Out of the Woods
by mynameisella
Summary: Annalise Pond was Amelia Pond's younger sister, and she met the Raggedy Doctor that night, just as her older sister did. Now, she's Lissa and she just can't believe her eyes when her Doctor comes back for her. Eleven/OC Rory/Amy
1. Chapter 1

Little Annalise was tossing and turning in bed, mumbling as she fought off her nightmares. She awoke, springing up in her oversized bed, and shivered. She was covered in sweat and freezing. She looked around her dark bedroom, eyes falling on the giant crack in the wall that loomed above her head as she slept. She shook, though more out of fear than the cold at that point. The crack had always scared her; it seemed to whisper and send horrible things to her head. Her aunt Sharon had decorated Annalise's headboard with an array of dreamcatchers in an attempt to help the five-year-old stop her nightmares, but nothing helped. The crack sent the nightmares through the gaps in the dreamcatchers and straight into Annalise's head.

Annalise chewed on her lip. She'd never be able to fall back asleep now! And, if the clock on her nightstand was any indication, it was three o'clock in the morning. Still way too early for a kid to be awake, even if she had been planning to watch some Saturday morning cartoons. Annalise wiggled out from under her covers, careful to step far away from the gap between her bed and the floor- who knew what kind of monsters were under there!- and tip toed across the wooden floor. She crept up to her older sister's sleeping face, and poked Amelia right on the nose.

Amelia's eyes opened instantly, startling Annalise so much that she jumped back. For half a second, Amelia looked just as scared as Annalise, but the fear seemed to melt from her face when she saw that it was just her sister.

"What are you doing up, Anna?" Amelia grumbled, sitting up. She looked at the clock and glared at Annalise. "It's three in the morning!" Annalise squirmed under her sister's intimidating stare. Amelia had never been the nicest person when it came to Annalise.

"Ihadanightmare," Annalise mumbled quickly, looking down at her feet, which were cover by the feet of her footie pajamas. Amelia groaned loudly, throwing herself back onto her bed.

"So did I!" Amelia whispered, but it was loud enough to be a shout. "But you don't see me being a baby and waking you up, now do I?" Tears pooled up into Annalise's eyes and she ran to the door of their bedroom, yanking it open. She was halfway down the hall- she was going to turn on all the lights in the living room and try to sleep like that- when Amelia caught her and dragged her back into the room. She shut the door and turned on the light.

"Come on," Amelia ordered, getting down on her knees in front of her bed, waving her arm to get Annalise to do the same. Annalise knelt down, copying her sister as she held her hands together in a prayer-like position. "We're going to ask Santa for help with the crack."

So, Annalise wasn't the only one who thought the crack was to blame.

"Dear Santa, thank you for the dolls and pencils and the fish," Amelia started, squeezing her eyes shut as she spoke. Annalise was quick to follow.

"Thank you lots for Wilbur, he's my favorite toy ever!" Annalise added, talking about her stuffed pig she had gotten. Amelia nudged her in the ribs to stop talking, and Annalise tried to listen.

"It's Easter now, so I hope we didn't wake you," she continued.

"But honest, it's an emergency!" Annalise jumped in urgently. Amelia was quiet, probably trying to not yell, and Annalise poked her in the arm. "Tell him about the crack."

"There's a crack in our wall. Aunt Sharon says it's just an ordinary crack, but we both know it's not. Because, at night there's voices." Amelia paused, and Annalise glanced over at the crack, which seemed to look even more menacing than usual wight the lamplight. "So please, please could you send someone to fix it?"

"Like a policeman!" Annalise offered, tearing her gaze from the crack. "Or, or-"

There was a loud CRASH in their backyard. Annalise darted over to the window and pulled the curtains back. Amelia came up behind her and they both saw the giant blue box that had demolished their shed. A grin grew across Annalise's face.

"Thank you, Santa." Annalise ran and grabbed her pink boots from the foot of her bed and slipped them on as Amelia tugged on her red ones. Annalise went running down the hall, barely hearing Amelia as she shouted that she needed her coat. Annalise ran straight past the front closet, where all the coats were housed, and went up on her tiptoes to unlock the back door. Unfortunately, she was too short and couldn't reach.

Huffing a little, Amelia came up behind her and unlocked the door. She only opened it, though, after Annalise had put her coat on. She also shoved Annalise behind her so she could see whatever it was first.

There was a soft, yellow light emitting from the top of the box, and a lot of noise was coming from it. Amelia openly gawking while Annalise tilted her head, trying to read the writing on the far left. It was sideways, and she wasn't the best reader, so she was having some issues.

"Po- poll- poll-ice-?"

Amelia rolled her eyes. "It says 'police box', dummy." Annalise scrunched her face up and glowered at her sister. She hated to be called dumb.

She would have retorted, but someone had just poked his head out of the top of the box.

"Could I have an apple?" He asked, looking between the two girls. "It's all I can think about, apples. Dunno why."

"Maybe you have a craving?" Annalise said after a moment, eyes wide as she stared at the strange man. He beamed.

"That's strange; I've never had a craving before."

"Are you okay?" Amelia asked as the man looked inside his box, apparently amazed by whatever he was seeing. That was when Annalise fully noted that he was soaking wet. He sat on the edge of the police box and shook his wet hair.

"Just had a fall. All the way down there, right to the library." He raised his eyebrows. "Hell of a climb back up."

"You're sopping," Annalise pointed out. Amelia nudged her in the ribs.

"He know's he's wet!" She snapped. Annalise looked down at her boots. Again, her sister was making her feel stupid.

"It's okay," the man said, hopping down from his box. He wobbled a little as he walked over to her and knelt down. "I was actually in the swimming pool. That's why I'm wet!" Annalise looked up at him like he was crazy.

"You just said you were in the library," she reminded me. His smile turned a little manic.

"So was the swimming pool."

"Are you a policeman?" Amelia asked, pulling the attention back to her. She tugged on her hat, pulling it over her ears, The spring air was still very cold at three in the morning, and Annalise was wishing that she had a hat, as well. She pulled her coat tighter on her arms.

"Why?" The man asked, looking over at Amelia. He turned back to Annalise. "Did you call a policeman?"

Annalise looked up at him, her eyes big and wide. "You came about the crack in our wall, right? Santa sent you?"

"What crack?" He asked. Then he jerked back with a yelp, landing flat on his back. Annalise and Amelia ran over to him. He writhed a little on the grass, worrying the two girls. Annalise bent down to feel his forehead, like Aunt Sharon did when she was sick. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Annalise thought she could remember her mum doing it, but she was sure it was just her imagination. She didn't remember anything about her mum.

"He's warm," Annalise reported, pulling her hand back.

"Are you okay, mister?" Amelia asked. The man stood up shakily, using his box for support.

"No, I'm fine," he insisted. "It's okay. This is all perfectly norm-" He was cut off, and opened his mouth wide as a burst of something golden floated out of his mouth.

"Who are you?" Annalise asked in amazement. The man shrugged while grinning at her.

"I don't know yet, I'm still cooking." He looked between the two girls. "Does it scare you?" Annalise shrugged and shook her head. It didn't scare her- she thought it was pretty cool! She wondered if he could teach her how to do that.

"No, it just looks a bit weird," Amelia answered for the both of them. The man looked at her for a moment then shook his head, hands waving about.

"No, no, no. The crack in your wall. Does it scare you?" Annalise's stomach dropped at the mention of the crack. It must have shown on her face, since the man seemed to react before Amelia had spoken.

"Yes."

The man clapped his hands together, spinning around. "Well then, no time to lose!" He declared. "I'm the Doctor. Do everything I tell you, don't ask stupid questions, and don't wander off." He then promptly ran into a tree. He popped back up quickly, turning to face them and the house.

"Are you alright?" Annalise asked, running up to him. He patted her head, messing up her red curls.

"Early days," he said by ways of explanation, though Annalise had no clue what that was supposed to mean. "Steerings just a bit off."

"Or a lot," Annalise murmured. The Doctor just grinned at her and held his hand out for her to take. She took it, and Amelia took his other one. The three of them walked quickly back into the house. Amelia scurried off into the kitchen and Annalise turned to face the Doctor as they walked in.

"If you're a doctor, why does your box say 'police'?" She asked. "Amelia said it was called a 'police box' but you're a doctor." Amelia returned and handed the Doctor a shiny red apple before he could respond. He took a large bite and spit it out onto the floor half a second later.

"That's disgusting. What is that?" The sisters shared a look.

"An apple," they replied in unison. Annalise dropped to her knees and began picking up the bits of apple the Doctor had spit out. She ran over to the garbage can and threw them out while Amelia went to the refrigerator for yogurt.

It turned into a while big thing, as the Doctor hated every food they fed him. He even threw a plate with bread and butter out into the yard! Annalise secretly relished it every time he reacted badly, since she had the strangest feeling he'd leave after he was fed. Who knew if he'd even actually help with the crack. _No_, Annalise chided herself as she dug into the carton of ice cream on the table. _Santa sent him. He'll help us._

The next thing Annalise knew, the Doctor was dipping some fish fingers into a giant bowl of custard. It was kind of gross, actually.

"Funny," Amelia commented through a mouthful of ice cream when the Doctor slurped up some custard and ended up with an impressive custard-mustache.

"Am I? Good. Funny's good." He paused. "What're your names?" He asked, as if the thought of them having names had just occurred to him.

"Amelia Pond."

"Annalise Pond."

The sisters had spoken at the same time, but the Doctor seemed to have had no trouble understanding what they had said. His grin grew larger.

"What brilliant names. Amelia and Annalise Pond. Like names from a fairytale." He took a large bite from a custard-covered fish finger. "Are we in Scotland, Amelia?" Amelia slouched, disappointed to have to say 'no'.

"No. We had to move to England," she said. "It's rubbish." Annalise didn't say anything. The two of them often fought because Annalise kind of liked living in England.

"So, Annalise, what about your parents?" The Doctor asked. "Are they upstairs?" He looked around as though they would come bursting through the door at any moment. "I'd have though we'd have woken them by now."

Annalise was quiet a moment.

"We don't have a mum or dad," Amelia said quickly, before Annalise could. "Just an aunt." The Doctor kept his gaze on Annalise.

"Where's your aunt, then, Annalise?" Annalise shrugged, stabbing the melting ice cream with her spoon.

"Out."

"And she left you two all alone?" The Doctor asked disbelievingly. Amelia huffed at that.

"I'm not scared!" She cried. Annalise looked up.

"Me neither!"

"'Course, you're not. You're not scared of anything." The Doctor stated. He finished off his custard. "Box falls out of the sky, man falls out of a box, man eats fish custard, and look at you both, just sitting there. So you know what I think?" He waited until Annalise had met his gaze. "Must be a hell of a scary crack in your wall."

* * *

Annalise had taken longer than Amelia to pack her things. Amelia had just thrown random clothes into her suitcase, zipped it up, and run back out to the backyard. Annalise took more time, packing her clothes nicely so she could fit more inside. She left just enough room to fit Wilbur inside, then closed it securely. she hurried out the door and into the backyard, certain that five minutes had already packed. She found Amelia perched on top of her suitcase, right in front of where the Doctor's time machine had been.

Annalise set her suitcase down and copied her sister. They waited for at least fifteen minutes in silence before either of them spoke.

"Maybe he's just a little late?" Annalise suggested. Amelia frowned, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Just- be quiet, okay?" Annalise nodded. She was growing tired, as it was almost four in the morning by that point. She felt herself drifting off, and couldn't stop it. Normally, Amelia would have yelled at her for leaning on her shoulder as she fell asleep, but it seemed as though Amelia was falling asleep as well. Her chin rested on Amelia's head, and the two of them fell asleep, waiting for their Raggedy Doctor to show up.

Annalise woke up the next morning in bed. It took her a second to realize why that was weird. She only figured it out when she saw Amelia sitting on the edge of her bed, crying. Tears immediately pooled in her eyes and she began to cry, too. It was the first time that she could remember crying and not having Amelia tell her to toughen up. The two of them sat together and cried for a while.

Their aunt couldn't understand why they were both so sad. And, of course, she didn't believe it when they told her about the magic doctor who had come in the night and had said he would take them away.

It wasn't long until Annalise found herself going to see a psychiatrist once a week.

One day, Annalise came home from her weekly appointment in tears because she had brought her Raggedy Doctor doll and her police box to show him, and he had taken them from her while scolding about how it was unhealthy to cling to imaginary friends so tightly. Needless to say, Annalise didn't go back to see that psychiatrist again. Amelia had actually helped her recreate the toys she had lost, too. She made the police box while Annalise painted a Ken doll's hair black and ripped his blue shirt and black slacks.

School was horrible for Annalise. She had started it for the first time that fall, and no one wanted to be friends with Odd Annalise, as they all called her. Annalise learned very quickly how cruel children can be, kids would sit half off their chairs in order to stay away from her at lunch, or how Becky would always talk the teacher into letting her, Sarah, and Lindsey be a group during partner-projects, leaving Annalise to work all by herself. Amelia was lucky, she had already been friends with Rory and Mels, and those two were not going anywhere. One time, Annalise had actually caught Rory dressed up as the Doctor!

The years were hard for both of the Pond sisters, but for Annalise especially. She was constantly switching psychiatrists, she had no friends whatsoever, and by the time she was seventeen she was failing out of school.

It was the day she had found out she wouldn't be graduating in the spring that Amelia had found her, sitting in the middle of the hallway, sobbing so much she had made herself sick. She kept pulling at her curls and was rolled into a ball as she cried. Amelia had come home from Mels, where she had spent the night previously, and found her in the front hallway. She carefully stepped around the mess and pulled the crying Annalise up, catching bits and pieces of what was wrong through her sobs.

Amelia half-carried her sister up the stairs and into the bathroom.

"I hate everything," Annalise sobbed as Amelia carefully placed her in the bathtub. "It- it's just- it's so hard and- and-" Amelia shushed her softly, showing her sister more compassion than she had seen from anyone in a very long time. Just shy of twelve years, to be exact. She turned the shower head on and brought it down so she could clean Annalise off.

"It's going to be okay, Annalise," Amelia assured her, gagging slightly as she pulled a chunk of _something _out of a curl. Annalise's eyes were squeezed shut as she breathed hard.

"How?" She asked finally. "How do you know that?"

"It just will," Amelia answered, unable to find a good reason. Annalise shook her head.

"I don't want to be Odd Annalise anymore," she whispered. Amelia pushed her wet hair back and pulled her chin up so they were looking into each other's eyes.

"Then you won't be," she said simply. "And I won't be 'Strange Amelia' anymore, either. From now on, I'll be... Amy. Amy Pond. And you'll be... Anna?" Annalise shook her head, not liking the name. It was too close to her real name. "Then, what about Lissa? Lissa Pond, that sounds nice."

Annalise nodded. "Okay," she croaked. "Lissa Pond."

Amelia helped her out of the tub and was leading her out of the bathroom when she caught sight of her reflection in the mirror. The first time she had seen herself as Lissa Pond. She had the same wild red curls and the same blue eyes, but she felt different, and she felt like it showed.

No more Annalise Pond. No more, strange, disturbed, Odd Annalise.

Only Lissa Pond.


	2. Chapter 2

_Six months later_

Lissa was on her way home from school- another terrible day, ugh- when her phone rang. She frowned when she saw who it was. Amy.

"Hey, what's up?" She asked in lieu of 'hello'. "I'm on my way home."

"Don't come home!" Amy said, sounding stressed. "Someone broke in. Just, go pick up some food and come here in, like, half an hour."

"Someone broke in?!" Lissa cried. "Are you okay, do you need anything? Have you called the police? What about Aunt Sharon, is she there, is she okay? Are-"

"Lissa, it's fine!" Amy cut her off, voice soothing. "I'm taking care of it. Just go get us some food and wait a little, okay?"

Lissa took a deep breath and nodded. "Okay. Pizza sound good?"

"Sure- shit, he's waking up!" Lissa's eyes widened and she was about to say something- _"what do you mean 'he's waking up'?!"_\- but Amy hung up and cut them off. Lissa ran a hand through her hair, not knowing what to do. Did she trust it when Amy said she had it taken care of?

Yes, yes she did. Amy had never let her down before, had she? So, Lissa turned around and headed over to the local pizza joint. Like everything else in Leadworth, it was owned by an elderly couple, and of course they knew her. The curse of a small town.

"Annalise!" Mrs. Matthews exclaimed when the bell brought attention to Lissa's arrival. Lissa shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot; no matter how many times she told Mrs. Matthews that she was Lissa now, she insisted on calling her Annalise. She didn't like it. She quickly made her order- one large pepperoni- and sat in one of the small stools by the window to wait for it to cook.

Lissa was playing on her phone when she heard it. The TV in the corner crackled for a moment, then a menacing voice said, "Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated."

Lissa's blood ran cold. _Prisoner Zero_. She remembered that from back when she was a kid. That name-it used to be whispered from the crack! She would have the worst nightmares about Prisoner Zero. He- it- used to terrify her. Still did, apparently.

Lissa whipped her head around to look outside, as if she would see Prisoner Zero running down the street, screaming. But, no. She saw something worse. Him. The Raggedy Doctor. He didn't look a day older, and he was being dragged by Amy by his tattered tie. Lissa watched, frozen, as Amy shut his tie in Mr. Henderson's car door. Eyes wide, Lissa ran out the door with a shout over her shoulder, saying she'd be right back for the pizza.

"Amy!" Amy whirled around, eyes a bit crazy. She tried to step in front of the Doctor, to hide him from Lissa. "What the hell is going on?" Lissa walked around her sister, looking at the Raggedy Doctor right in the face. He looked up at her, bent over since his tie was shut in the door, looking at her in almost a sense of wonder.

"Annalise?"

Lissa looked down at her feet, feeling like she was five-years-old again. "It's Lissa now."

"Oh, not you too! Annalise Pond was a brilliant name!" The Doctor protested. Lissa glared at him, taking a step back.

"Well, I didn't fancy being Odd Annalise anymore, so..." She spat. A small piece of her was pleased when he looked shocked and horrified at that. Then, he shook his head.

"Look, we don't have much time! We have less than twenty minutes to save the planet from being incinerated." He said, appealing to her since it was obvious Amy wasn't going to let him go anytime soon. Lissa crossed her arms over her chest.

"What, like you didn't have time for us for the past twelve years?" Just as she said that, an apple was thrown at her. Instinctively, she caught it. Her hands shook when she saw the smiley face bitten out of it, just like the one she had given the Doctor that night, in an attempt to make him like apples.

"For me, it's only been five minutes, Annalise." He promised. "I'm a time traveller and everything I told you twelve years ago is true. I'm real. What's happening in the sky is real, and if you don't let me go right now, everything you've ever known is over." Lissa only tore her gaze away from the apple- there weren't any brown spots at all!- when he mentioned the sky. Automatically, she looked up and saw how strange it looked.

"What, is there some kind of forcefield covering the Earth?" She asked sarcastically, but quieted when she saw the grave look on the Doctor's face.

"I don't believe him," Amy said. "And you shouldn't, either." The Doctor rubbed his eyes with one hand.

"Just twenty minutes. Just believe me for twenty minutes." He begged. He pointed to the apple in Lissa's hand. "Look at it. Fresh as the day she gave it to me. And you know it's the same one. Amy, believe for twenty minutes." Amy looked at the apple for a second before pressing the button to unlock the car. The Doctor gratefully opened the door and released his tie. He twirled around- _is his steering _still _off?_ Lissa wondered- and laughed a little when he saw the bite taken out of the apple. Lissa shrugged.

"I"m hungry." She said simply. He just smiled at her and accepted the apple when she gave it back to him. He took a large bite out of it, and obviously tried very hard not to make a face as he swallowed. Lissa couldn't help but giggle.

"What do we do?" Amy asked, pulling the attention back to her. "Less than twenty minutes, yeah?" The Doctor nodded, serious once more. He dropped the apple into a pocket. Lissa was amazed to see that it didn't make a lump at all.

"Stop that nurse!" He said, pointing to someone on the other side of the park, who was taking pictures of some guy walking a dog. The Doctor took off and Amy and Lissa followed. As they got closer, Lissa recognized the nurse, right as the Doctor snatched the phone out of his hands.

"The sun's going out, and you're photographing a man and a dog. Why?" The Doctor grilled instantly. Rory looked confused, but happy when he saw Amy approach.

"Amy!" He said, reaching for a hug. Amy held a hand out, stopping him.

"Hi!" She said brightly, sounding a little fake to Lissa's ears. "Oh, this is Rory, he's a friend." Lissa shook her head. Poor Rory, Amy was always doing stuff like that.

"Boyfriend." Rory corrected, which seemed to make Amy a little uncomfortable, or upset. She took a small step away from him.

"Kind of boyfriend," she amended. Rory looked hurt.

"]Man and dog. Why?" The Doctor demanded, pulling the conversation away from the domestics it was about to go into. Rory turned to face the Doctor and his mouth fell open as he recognized him. Lissa winced, knowing what was going to happen next.

"Oh my God, it's him," Rory breathed, looking from Amy to Lissa in hopes for an explanation.

"Just answer his question, please," Lissa asked, looking at her feet once more. This was way too awkward for her liking.

"It's him, though. The Doctor. The Raggedy Doctor," Rory went on, pointing at the Doctor's face.

"He came back," Amy and Lissa said together.

"But he was a story!" Rory insisted. "He was a game."

"Man and dog, why? Tell me now!" The Doctor said firmly.

"Sorry," Rory said, shaking his head slightly. "Because he can't be there. Because he's-"

"In a hospital, in a coma." The Doctor said on top of Rory. Rory nodded mutely. The Doctor clapped his hands together. He looked grimly pleased, which was a weird look.

"Knew it. Multiform, you see?" The Doctor's gaze switched between the three of them. "Disguise itself as anything, but it needs a life feed. A psychic link with a living but dormant mind." The man with the dog barked at them. Not the dog, but the man. Lissa jumped and she grabbed the Doctor's arm. He nodded towards the man. "Prisoner Zero."

"What?" Lissa yelped. "That's Prisoner Zero? He's here?" She shook a little, eyeing the man with dislike. He didn't look anything like he did in her dreams. In her dreams, he was a giant snakelike thing that always hung from the ceiling with really long, thin teeth and creepy huge eyes. But, if she was understanding what the Doctor said, this wasn't what Prisoner Zero really looked like. It was a disguise.

The Doctor, meanwhile, was arguing with Prisoner Zero, holding his weird little screwdriver thing in the air, pressing a button so it made noise. Lissa had no clue what was going on and became even more confused when the screwdriver began to melt.

"No, no, no!" The Doctor moaned, cradling the screwdriver like it was something precious. He wasn't looking at Prisoner Zero. He didn't see how Prisoner Zero disappeared before their eyes.

"Doctor!" Amy cried. "He sort of just melted down the drain." The Doctor groaned a bit more

"Okay, okay," he said. "We have to drive Prisoner Zero out into the open. No TARDIS, no screwdriver, and seventeen minutes. Think, think!" He hit his forehead with each 'think'. It took him a minute to come up with a plan.

"Okay, you two," he gestured to Amy and Rory, "go to the hospital. Get everyone out of the ward, clear the whole floor. Phone me when you're done." He looked at Lissa. "You and I are going to find Jeff and his laptop." He grabbed her hand and began dragging her in the direction of the Angelo's house. She struggled a little to keep up with him, and he slowed down to help her out.

They quickly made it to the Angelo's house. The Doctor let them in, and they walked right past Mrs. Angelo, and Lissa gave her a little wave and she was dragged into the back bedroom, where Jeff was sitting on his bed. He was using his laptop.

"Hello. Laptop. Give me." The Doctor grabbed the laptop from Jeff and sat down on the bed. Lissa hurriedly sat next to him. Jeff protested, trying to take the laptop back. "It's fine, just let me use it!" The Doctor got the laptop out of Jeff's grasp and set it on his lap, angling it so he and Lissa could see. Lissa made a disgusted sound when she saw what was on the screen. The Doctor's eyes widened. "Blimey, get a girlfriend, Jeff."

"What are you doing?" Mrs. Angelo asked as she walked into the room. The Doctor was already typing away on the computer.

"The sun's gone wibbly, so right now, somewhere out there, there's going to be a big old video conference call." The Doctor explained without looking up. "All the experts in the world panicking at once, and do you know what they need? Me." He pressed a button finally, and grinned. "Ah, and here they all are. All the big boys. NASA, Jodrell Bank, Tokyo Space Centre, Patrick Moore." Mrs. Angelo sat down next to Lissa.

"I like Patrick Moore." She told them.

"You can't just hack in on a call like that," Lissa said, not believing her eyes when she saw all of them on the screen. The Doctor shot her a wicked grin.

"Can't I?"

* * *

"First floor, on the left, fourth from the end." Amy reported from the hospital. Lissa repeated what she said to the Doctor, who was manning a firetruck with surprising ease. Lissa held on to a pole inside, just in case.

"Tell them to duck!" The Doctor shouted as he prepared to ram into the window. Lissa quickly texted Amy, and was relieved when she saw her and Rory duck.

"Right! Hello. Am I late?" The Doctor asked as he led the way, climbing up the ladder. He checked the clock on the wall. "No, three minutes to go. So still time."

Prisoner Zero was now disguised as a woman with two small children holding her hands. The woman sneered at the Doctor.

"Time for what, Time Lord?" She asked. Lissa wondered what a Time Lord was, but figured this wasn't the best time to ask. Besides, she was frozen in fear form Prisoner Zero. He managed to make a kindly mother look extremely intimidating; it was just as bad as the nightmares she used to have.

"Take the disguise off. They'll find you in a heartbeat. Nobody dies." The Doctor suggested. Prisoner Zero scoffed.

"The Atraxi will kill me this time," she stated. "If I am to die, let there be fire." Lissa clenched her fists. _No_, she thought firmly. She wasn't going to let the monster under her bed terrify her anymore.

"You came to this world by opening a crack in our wall," she said quietly, but determinedly. "Do it again. Just leave." Prisoner Zero tutted softly.

"I did not open the crack."

The Doctor and Prisoner Zero got into a heated discussion about where the crack came from, how Prisoner Zero only used what was already there. There was some childish taunting on Prisoner Zero's end, which was rather odd in Lissa's mind.

Then, the clock turned to 0:00. The Doctor seemed to relish in his victory, though Lissa was having a hard time keeping up with what exactly he did. He knew it had something to do with Jeff's phone and the virus he had created for the space experts.

"The Atraxi are limited. While I'm in this form, they'll still be unable to detect me," Prisoner Zero explained haughtily. "They've tracked a phone, not me."

The Doctor didn't seem phased. "Yeah, but this is the good bit. I mean, this is my favourite bit. Do you know what this phone is full of?" He paused, giving Prisoner Zero a chance to respond. "Pictures of you. Every form you've learned to take, right here. Oooh, and being uploaded about now. And the final score is, no TARDIS, no screwdriver, two minutes to spare. Who da man?" Amy and Lissa shared a look, eyebrows raised, and had to look away from each other for fear of laughing. "Oh, I'm never saying that again."

Prisoner Zero shrugged. "Then I shall take a new form." The Doctor scoffed.

"Oh, stop it. You know you can't. It takes months to form that kind of psychic link." A smile grew on the woman's face, which sent chills down Lissa's spine.

"And I've had years." Lissa's world turned black and she fell to the ground, out cold.

It was one of the worst nightmares Lissa had ever had. Prisoner Zero had taken the form of the Doctor, and was taunting her about how no one loved her, about how everyone had always preferred Amy over her, how even the Doctor had come back for Amy and not her.

_"Poor, little Odd Annalise Pond. Still such a child inside, waiting for her magic Doctor to come and take her away from her miserable life." _Prisoner Zero-as-the-Doctor cooed, brushing her hair back gently. Tears streamed down Lissa's face, but she couldn't move. She was trapped inside her own subconscious.

"Lissa?" The Doctor's voice came floating in from the blackness, not from Prisoner Zero-as-the-Doctor's mouth. He stood there like a statue, eyes burning into hers. "Lissa, hear me! You've been dreaming of Prisoner Zero your entire life, you know what it looks like! Concentrate on that, Lissa. Think of all those horrifying nightmares that would keep you up at night, the ones so bad you couldn't even leave your bed. Concentrate!"

It was hard, but Lissa did as she was told. She thought of how Prisoner Zero really looked. Prisoner Zero-as-the-Doctor starting flinching and wincing, but kept shape.

_"Odd Annalise, still trying to cling to her magic Doctor, though he doesn't care about her at all! Tries to forget how he abandoned her for twelve long years!" _It screeched. Its form started to blur, changing from the Doctor to the snakelike form she had known since she was small. _"He won't save you, he will never rescue you from the hell you live in!"_

With a gasp, Lissa's eyes flew open.

And Prisoner Zero, in its true form, disappeared. Rory ran over and was helping Lissa up as the Doctor ran out of the room, Amy at his heel.

"What happened?" Lissa slurred, holding her head. Rory gave a quick rundown of how Prisoner Zero had taken her five-year-old form, along with the Doctor as she knew him, and how her remembering how it really looked help it get caught by the Atraxi.

"And now, he's brought the aliens back." Rory finished lamely. Lissa stood up and the world spun. "Whoa, wait up. I need to check and make sure you don't have a concussion or something." Lissa shook him off, wobbling as she made to follow the Doctor and Amy.

"Later," she mumbled.

Rory helped her up to the roof, where the Doctor was shouting at the giant eye thing that Rory claimed was the Atraxi.

"I'm the Doctor," the Doctor stated. "Basically, run." The Atraxi listened, zipping off into the sky without a trace.

"Is that it?" Amy asked. "Are they gone for good?" The Doctor didn't answer, just ran past them all. Amy was quick to follow, and Rory help Lissa, whose head was becoming clearer. By the time they made it outside the hospital, the Doctor and Amy were out of sight and Lissa broke into a run.

For the first time in her life, Lissa thanked God that Leadworth was so small. She made it back to her house in no time, stomach sinking as she heard that wheezing noise that had come from the Doctor's box- time machine- when he had left twelve years ago. When she finally made it to her backyard, the Doctor and his box were gone.

And so was Amy.

* * *

_Two years later_

Lissa was fast asleep on the couch in the living room, the TV still on as she slept. It was the night before Amy's wedding, so Lissa had been pulling up with a bunch of crap lately from Amy, including being kicked out of their bedroom because apparently, Lissa snored. According to Amy, it wouldn't help her beauty sleep.

She was woken up by that sound. The one that had been haunting her dreams every night for the past two years, after she had gone inside her house and found Amy sitting at the kitchen table. The Doctor hadn't taken her with him, either. It had been a small consolation.

Lissa sat up on the couch, pushing the blankets off of her as she did every night. Every night, she woke up thinking she heard that sound. Every night, she went to the back door to check the backyard. And every year, she was disappointed.

Except, this time, Amy had woken up, too. She came down in her nightgown and a robe.

"You heard it, too?" She asked, voice quiet. She didn't want to wake Aunt Sharon. Lissa nodded. She grabbed her silk robe from the recliner chair and slipped it on. Amy had heard it, too, and now Lissa's heart was pounding hard in her chest. If Amy had heard it, too, than it must be real, right?

They ran outside, and Lissa's heart jumped into her throat when she saw the box sitting in their backyard. The door opened and orange light spilled out, the Doctor exiting. He grinned sheepishly at the two of them.

"Sorry about running off earlier. Brand new TARDIS. Bit exciting." He wrung his hands together a little nervously. "Just had a quick hop to the moon and back to run her in. She's ready for the big stuff now."

"It's really you," Lissa breathed. She heard Amy's great hitch in her throat.

"You came back," Amy whispered.

The Doctor looked a little surprised. "'Course I came back. I always come back." He looked between the two of them. "Something wrong with that?"

"Are you from another planet?" Lissa asked, voice cracking a little. The Doctor nodded, looking smug.

"Yeah."

Amy nodded as they took in this new information.

"So what do you think?" He asked. They both gave him blank looks. "Other planets. Want to check some out?" Lissa wrapped herself with her arms, trying to fight off the nighttime cold.

"What does that mean?" She asked softly.

"It means. Well, it means come with me. Both of you." He answered, arms swinging.

"Where?" Amy asked.

"Wherever you like."

Lissa took a deep breath. Did he not realize how long it had been? He said he just went to the moon and back... Maybe, once again, he thought he had only been gone five minutes. "All those things that happened- Prisoner Zero, the hospital and all- it, it happened two years ago." The Doctor's grin faltered.

"O-oh," he didn't seem to know what to do. "Oops." Amy huffed, arms crossed.

"Yeah," she snapped. "'Oops'."

"So thats-?"

"Fourteen years!" Amy and Lissa said together. Amy was fierce and angry, Lissa was soft and scared.

"Fourteen years since fish custard," the Doctor muttered. He smiled once more, stepping back so the door was open to them. "Amy, Lissa, the girls who waited, you've waited long enough, I think." Amy's anger dissipated and she ran for the door. She disappeared inside.

Lissa, on the other hand, hesitated. "When I was a kid, you said there was a swimming pool and a library, and the swimming pool was in the library." She said softly. The Doctor shrugged.

"Yeah, I'm not sure where it's got to now. It'll turn up." He leaned back against the box. "So, coming?"

Lissa took a deep breath and shook her head. "No," she said finally. The Doctor looked surprised.

"You wanted to come fourteen years ago."

"I grew up." Lissa said, squirming a little. She really, really wanted to go. Like, really bad. But she just couldn't. The Doctor, though, seemed to know that she wanted to come. He merely smiled.

"Don't worry," he said. "I'll soon fix that." He turned and walked inside the box, leaving the door open for Lissa. She bit her lip and looked back at her house. It was dark and quiet, but she could see the light from the lamp in her and Amy's room. She looked back at the box.

She ran inside.

She stopped short, mouth dropping at the inside. For one, it was a lot bigger on the inside. Like, enormous. Lissa noticed that she wasn't the only one gawking; Amy looked as if she was two seconds away from passing out. Lissa saw how tight she was gripping the railing.

"Well?" The Doctor clapped his hands together, sliding across the glass floor to the console in the middle. "Anything you want to say? Any passing remarks? I've heard them all." Lissa had the vaguest notion that he was waiting for one of them to comment on the size of the inside.

"I'm in my nightie," Amy breathed, looking down at her white nightgown and robe. Automatically, Lissa grabbed her robe and held it tighter around her. It hadn't occurred to her to grab some real clothes before running into the time machine.

"Oh, don't worry. Plenty of clothes in the wardrobe. And possibly a swimming pool." Lissa giggled. "So, all of time and space, everything that ever happened or ever will- where do you want to start?" Lissa thought long and hard about where or when she'd like to go.

"Can you get me back for tomorrow morning?" Amy asked suddenly. Lissa's stomach dropped when she realized what tomorrow was. And how Amy was about to run off with their imaginary friend on the night before her wedding. _Poor Rory_, Lissa thought. The Doctor scoffed.

"It's a time machine," he responded obviously. "I can get you back five minutes ago. Why, what's tomorrow?" Amy opened her mouth and Lissa hurried to slap her hand over her sister's mouth.

"Nothing!" Lissa replied. "Just, you know, stuff." She didn't know what would happen if the Doctor knew about the wedding- would he say they couldn't come with him? She wasn't sure, and she wasn't risking it. She had been dreaming about this day for fourteen years- since she was five- and she wasn't letting anything happen that could jeopardize it.

The Doctor seemed a little suspicious, but didn't say anything. "All right, then. Back in time for stuff." He plucked a screwdriver thing out of the console and started typing on a typewriter that was attached. Lissa noticed how there was a lot of things on it, it was like some sort of weird bricolage art.

She hadn't noticed how Amy had been wandering around the room. "There's a whole world in here, just like you said," she exclaimed, touching the wall lightly. "It's all true. I thought- well, I started to think that maybe you were just like a madman with a box." Lissa silently agreed. She had always harbored a hidden thought in the back of her head, in the farthest corner of her mind that maybe, just maybe, the Doctor had been totally crazy and just really good at illusions.

"Amy Pond," the Doctor started seriously. "Lissa, you listen to this, too, 'cause there's something you'd better understand about me, because it's important, and one day your life may depend on it." He paused dramatically, then broke out into a grin. "I am definitely a madman with a box." He grabbed a gravel and slapped the console with it. "Ha ha! Yeah. Goodbye Leadworth, hello everything."

The whole room shook as they heard the sound the time machine made as it disappeared and took them somewhere new.

* * *

**A/N: **Oh my goodness, thank you guys so much for the love you've shown this story already! I couldn't believe it when, in a matter of days, I got 8 reviews on a single chapter, on the first chapter of a story! You guys are amazing, seriously.

I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter :) it'd be super great if you left a review. Maybe tell me what you think of Lissa? I'm glad that it seems that you all like her so far.

Until next time, sweeties!


	3. Chapter 3

Lissa sat on the edge of the TARDIS- she had just found out the name of the Doctor's box, it stood for Time And Relative Dimension In Space, whatever that meant- kicking her legs back and forth as she gazed out into the abyss of space. It was gorgeous, better than anything she ever could have imagined. Amy, on the other hand, was floating just outside the door, the Doctor leaning over Lissa in order to hold on to Amy's ankle.

The Doctor pulled Amy in and she held on tight. Too tight for Lissa's liking, to be honest. Because of Rory, of course! Not because- no, no no. Definitely because Amy was supposed to marry Rory tomorrow. Or a long time ago. Time travel was strange, Lissa decided then and there.

Lissa looked down and noticed a large spaceship that sort of looked like a city, floating in space. It was moving far under them slowly.

"What's that?" She asked, looking up and back at the Doctor. He leaned over her again to take a look, leaning on the doorframe. His face broke out into a grin and Lissa couldn't help but smile as well.

"Now that's interesting," he exclaimed. "Twenty ninth century. Solar flares roast the earth, and the entire human race packs its bags and moves out till the weather improves. Whole nations-" The Doctor slapped the blue wood and ran to the console. Lissa and Amy followed as the doors shut automatically. Lissa huffed a little when Amy pulled on her shoulder so she could be right next to him.

"- migrating to the stars." He pulled over the screen and showed a frontal view of the city. It was stunning, all shiny and silver. "Isn't that amazing?"

"Completely." Lissa breathed, eyes wide. The Doctor leaned forward to see her around Amy and beamed.

He clapped his hands. "Well, come on, I've found us a spaceship. This is the United Kingdom of Britain and Northern Ireland. All of it, bolted together and floating in the sky. Starship UK." He paused, puffing his chest a little. "It's Britain, but metal. That's not just a ship, that's an idea. That's a whole country, living and laughing and shopping. Searching the stars for a new home."

"Can we go out and see?" Amy begged, grabbing onto his arms. He nodded.

"'Course we can. But first, there's a thing." Lissa raised her eyebrows.

"A thing?" She repeated, unsure as to what sort of rule he would give them. He winked at her, and she totally did not blush. Not even a little.

And Amy totally did not send her a subtle glare.

"An important thing," he went on, wagging his finger at them jokingly. "In fact, Thing One: We are observers only. That's the one rule I've always stuck to in all my travels. I never get involved in the affairs of other peoples or planets." Lissa thought about how he had gotten involved in their affairs, and the affairs of Prisoner Zero and the Atraxi. She wondered why he give this rule when he had already broken it himself.

Behind him, the image on the screen changed, showing a little girl sitting on a bench. She was crying, Lissa saw. She wondered where her parents were, and why no one was stopping to see what was wrong. That was typically what one did when they saw a child crying.

"Ooo, that's interesting." The Doctor pulled the screen so he could see better. Amy moved closer.

"So we're like a wildlife documentary, yeah? Because if they see a wounded little cub or something, they can't just save it, they've got to keep filming and let it die." Amy paused as a thought dawned on her. As she talked, gaze fixed on the screen, the Doctor slipped away from her and towards the door. Not wanting to be left behind yet again, Lissa jogged over to him and caught the door. "It's got to be hard. I don't think I could do that. Don't you find that hard, being all, like, detached and cold?"

The Doctor and Lissa walked over to the girl. Lissa hurried up and sat next to her. Slowly and gently, she placed a hand on her back and rubbed circles. The Doctor knelt in front of her. He turned and waved at nothing, but Lissa figured out that he was waving at the TARDIS's camera, telling Amy to come join them.

Amy came running out of the TARDIS, not looking happy in the least.

Soon, though, once she became entranced by the foreign sights around her, she lost her anger.

**"**I'm in the future," she kept repeating. "Like hundreds of years in the future. I've been dead for centuries." She looked horrified at the thought. The Doctor scoffed.

"Oh, lovely. You're a cheery one. Never mind dead, look at this place. Isn't it wrong?" Lissa listened to him and scanned the room, looking for something to be off.

She leaned against a wall, looking around her. Everything seemed fairly normal. Well, as normal as a spaceship in the distant future that housed a whole country or two could be.

"What's wrong?" Amy asked, looking right at the Doctor. She wasn't even trying to figure it out for herself. The Doctor seemed a little disappointed.

"Come on, use your eyes. Notice everything. What's wrong with this picture?" He urged. He looked over at Lissa and looked pleased that she was already looking around. That was when she made a sort of connection.

Lissa had only ever been on a plane once in her life, when Aunt Sharon had taken them with her to France for a business trip. She had gotten stuck in the window seat. She tried to sleep for the entire ride- she can get motion sickness on occasion and wasn't sure how a plane would affect it- but she couldn't fall asleep, because the window and wall that she was leaning on was vibrating slightly. Because of the engines, Aunt Sharon had explained when she had complained.

"Is it the bicycles? Bit unusual on a spaceship, bicycles." Amy tried, asking about the first thing she had seen.

The wall that Lissa was leaning on wasn't vibrating, not even a little. Was that it? Was that what was strange? 'Cause a ship this big would need a much bigger engine than a plane, so by logic it would vibrate even more.

"Says the girl in the nightie," the Doctor teased Amy, but was keeping an eye on Lissa.

"Doctor-" Lissa started, about to voice her theory. Amy, however, drowned her out as she clapped a hand to her mouth.

"Oh my God, I'm in my nightie." Amy cried. The Doctor shook his head.

"Now, come on, look around you. Actually look." He said. "Life on a giant starship. Back to basics. Bicycles, washing lines, wind-up street lamps. But look closer. Secrets and shadows, lives led in fear. Society bent out of shape, on the brink of collapse. A police state. Excuse me." He stole a glass of water from a nearby café and placed it on the ground. The sight filled Lissa with a sense of pride, since she knew she had figured it out.

The Doctor looked at it as the water stayed completely still. He returned it quickly. "Sorry. Checking all the water in this area. There's an escaped fish. Where was I?" He looked confused and Lissa was reminded of how he was when she was five. What was the term he had used? 'Still cooking'? Was is possible that he was still cooking then?

"Why did you just do that with the water?" Amy asked as he spun around, looking for something thought he didn't know what.

" Don't know. I think a lot. It's hard to keep track. Now, police state. Do you see it yet?"

"I do," Lissa said, but again Amy drowned her out. Lissa was really getting irritated at that point. Amy was getting on her nerves.

"Where?"

"There." He pointed to the little girl, who had told them her names was Mandy. She was still on the bench, crying. The Doctor headed over to her and Amy followed, making sure that she was closer to him than Lissa was. Lissa chewed on her lip, a little annoyed. Amy had always been an attention hog, but today was worse than ever! She had already had everything; friends, Aunt Sharon (Amy had always been the favorite, it wasn't a secret), and more. And now, she was trying to keep the Doctor to herself, too.

* * *

The Doctor led Lissa down a ladder. Lissa was finally having a good time on this trip- did it make her a bad person that she was only happy now that Amy had gotten distracted and done something else? Lissa wasn't sure, but she shrugged and followed the Doctor.

They ended up in a hall with a glass of water on the ground.

"Can't be," the Doctor murmured, whipping out his sonic screwdriver and scanning the area. Lissa plopped down and sat in front of the water, flicking the glass to make it ripple. It only rippled for a second until returning to how it had been, as if the stillness of the ship was so overwhelming that it just couldn't keep moving. She flicked it again.

"But it is," she replied.

A woman came out from the shadows, her face covered by a porcelain mask.

"The impossible truth in a glass of water," she said gravely. "Not many people see it. But you do, don't you, Doctor?" The Doctor seemed suspicious.

"You know me?" He asked disbelievingly.

"Keep your voice down. They're everywhere." She looked over her shoulder as if she was waiting for people to storm the hallway. Maybe they were. "Tell me what you see in the glass."

"Who says I see anything?" He retorted carefully. The woman shook her head and faced Lissa, though she continued to speak to the Doctor.

"Your companion knows, don't you, child?"

Lissa nodded, a little unhappy about being called a child. She had heard that far too much in her life. "There're no vibrations. There should be." She paused. "It's like there's no engine or something."

"It doesn't make sense," the Doctor cut in, staring at Lissa with an impressive look on his face. "These power couplings, they're not connected. Look. Look, they're dummies, see?" He showed one of the Smiler things, which creeped Lissa out to know end. "And behind this wall, nothing. It's hollow. If I didn't know better, I'd say Lissa was and right and there was-"

"No engine at all." All of them spoke in unison. It gave Lissa chills. She shook her head.

"But it's flying," she reminded them. "I saw it. It's moving through space, so how's it going without an engine?"

"The impossible truth, Doctor, companion. We're travelling among the stars in a spaceship that could never fly." The woman responded. Lissa crossed her arms and held herself, trying to push her mind off of the creepiness of the situation.

"How?" The Doctor asked. "And, her name is Lissa."

"I don't know," the woman said, ignoring that last comment. "There's a darkness at the heart of this nation. It threatens every one of us. Help us, Doctor, Lissa. You're our only hope. Your friend is safe. This will take you to her. Now go, quickly!" She thrust a sort of tracking device into Lissa's hand, which beeped once, and headed down the hall.

"Who are you?" The Doctor called. "How do I find you again?"

The woman turned around, cloak swishing around ankles. She looked very impressive.

"I am Liz Ten, and I will find you." With that, she was gone. Liz Ten... Liz Ten... Liz was probably short of Elizabeth. Elizabeth Ten? Lissa's eyes widened. _No way._

The Doctor and Lissa watched her go. They only turned their attention to the tracking device when it beeped again. The Doctor took it from her and soniced it with his screwdriver. He grabbed onto Lissa's hand and they went down the hall in the other direction.

"What exactly is going on around here?" Lissa asked, fighting to not let her uneasiness and fear show in her voice. She wasn't sure if she succeeded.

"I have no idea," the Doctor said simply. He looked down at her and she looked up at him. She pushed back the thought about how she could get lost in his eyes. "But we'll find out. Promise."

She didn't bring up about how he was still holding her hand. He finally looked forward and she followed suit, noticing a chute of some kind in front of them.

"I'll go first," the Doctor said, dropping her hand. He clambered over the edge and sat there for a second. "Give me five seconds, then jump after me."

* * *

They had found Amy, thanks to the tracker, and had just dropped down another chute. Lissa, to be frank, was getting sick of them. Starship UK had far too many, in her opinion.

Amy had insisted on jumping right after the Doctor, of course, so Lissa had jumped last once more. And, of course, Amy hadn't moved quick enough, she Lissa had ended up on top of her. Amy shoved her off unceremoniously, and Lissa had gotten a mouthful of something gross. She spat it out, gagging slightly.

"Where are we?" Amy asked, grabbing onto the Doctor's arm to keep herself from slipping. Lissa stood, wiping her mouth with the backs of her hands.

"Six hundred feet down, twenty miles laterally, puts us at the heart of the ship," the Doctor replied, scanning with his screwdriver. "I'd say Lancashire. What's this then, a cave? Can't be a cave. Looks like a cave."

"It's all rubbish," Lissa pointed out, kicking a half-eaten head of lettuce away from her. She cringed when she stepped on what she saw sure was the ground. It was squishy.

"Yes, but only food refuse. Organic, coming through feeder tubes from all over the ship." The Doctor pointed to one.

Lissa blanched. "Feeder tubes?" She squeaked.

"The floor's all squidgy, like a water bed," Amy commented, bouncing a little. The Doctor made eye contact with Lissa, showing he knew she was thinking along the same lines as him.

"But feeding what, though?"

There was a distant roar and Lissa's heart pounded really hard.

" It's sort of rubbery, feel it. Wet and slimy." Amy went on, attention only on the Doctor. Lissa grabbed her elbows, holding herself together as she realized where they were. Never, ever in her life would she have imagined she would end up somewhere like this, but after the day she had had, it was almost unsurprising.

"Er, it's not a floor, it's a-" He faltered, eyeing Lissa. She wondered what, exactly, she looked like to him at that moment. She had a vague idea, but she still wondered. Red curls covered in mushy food, paler than usual, shaking, holding herself together with her arms. _Pathetic._

"Just say it," Lissa whispered. "Say what it is."

"The next word is kind of a scary word," the Doctor cautioned, more to Amy since she hadn't put two and two together yet. "You probably want to take a moment, get yourself in a calm place. Go omm." Amy complied, confused, but the Doctor waited until Lissa gave a halfhearted 'omm'.

"It's a tongue," he said slowly. Lissa shook, the weirdness and scariness taking over. Her knees bent a little and the only thing that kept her from collapsing was the fact that she'd be lying on a big, fat tongue. "A great big tongue."

"This is a mouth," Lissa croaked.

"This whole place is a mouth?" Amy asked, voice a little higher than usual. "We're in a mouth?"

Lissa's long-forgotten claustrophobia came crawling back and she was forcibly reminded of the time that Stacy and the other girls in her grade three class had stuffed her inside the classroom chest, which was there simply for decoration, and locked it. The teacher didn't have the key and Lissa had been in there for at least half an hour before the firefighters came and carefully used their axe to crack it open.

"How do we get out?" She asked, not even bothering to hide her hysteria.

"How big is this beastie?" The Doctor asked, walking over to Lissa and rubbing her back the same way she had rubbed Mandy's. It helped, but not much. Lissa was starting to feel like she couldn't breathe. "It's gorgeous. Blimey, if this is just the mouth, I'd love to see the stomach. Though not right now." He chuckled weakly and she tried to laugh as well; it was obvious he was trying to distract her. He wasn't doing a good job, but he was trying. She appreciated that.

"Doctor, how do we get out?" Amy asked firmly.

"Okay, it's being fed through surgically implanted feeder tubes, so the normal entrance is closed for business." Lissa looked up and noted that the pearly white walls around them were actually teeth. Teeth that wouldn't be opening to let them out.

Amy lurched forward. "We could try, though!"

"No, stop, don't move." The Doctor said, an arm stretched in her direction. Lissa almost puked when the 'floor' began to vibrate. "Too late. It's started" He pulled out his screwdriver and pressed the button, and the vibrating intensified. Lissa clenched her eyes, convinced she was about to be sick.

"Right, then. This isn't going to be big on dignity. Geronimo!"

* * *

**A/N: **I hope you guys like the chapter! I'm having fun adding Lissa in and finding what I can change :)

Just so you all know, anytime I skip a scene or two, just assume that it happened just like it did in the show; assume Lissa didn't really affect the scene at all. I think that's better than clogging up the story with a bunch of stuff you've already seen.

Thanks so much again for all the reviews, and keep them coming! If you have any ideas, let me know :) I have a vague notion on where the story will go, but any help is appreciated.

Until next time, sweeties!


	4. Chapter 4

Lissa landed hard on her butt and she let out a pained grown. In an instant, the sonic screwdriver was in her face, buzzing as it scanned her.

"There's nothing broken, there's no sign of concussion and yes, you are covered in sick." The Doctor informed her. That was the last straw, she turned onto her side and puked into the giant alien's sick. The Doctor quickly pulled her up by the arms and she held on tight, legs feeling wobbly. She didn't think she could stand on her own.

"Where are we?" Amy asked. It took Lissa a second to gain the courage to look up but when she did, she found she could breathe easier. They were in a large tunnel, and Lissa found that it was like when the firefighter pulled had her from the chest as a child. It literally was a breathe of fresh air.

Besides the puke, anyway.

"Overspill pipe, at a guess," the Doctor answered, scanning around. His arm never left Lissa's back as he held her up.

"Can we get out?" Lissa croaked, throat scratching painfully. She swallowed, but it didn't help.

The Doctor nodded ahead, and she noticed the door. "One door, one door switch, one condition. We forget everything we saw." He looked at Amy. "Look familiar?" Upon closer look, Lissa saw that it had a button labelled "forget" on it. She furrowed her eyebrows, not understanding.

There was a noise down the tunnel and two of those Smiler things were there, sitting in their boxes, looking creepily happy.

"There's a creature living in the heart of this ship. What's it doing there?" The Doctor demanded, pulling Lissa forward as he stepped towards them. Lissa tried to stand up on her own so she could step away from them- hello, super creepy!- but her knees buckled and she couldn't do it. She had to fight every instinct in her body so that she could stay put, clinging to the Doctor's side.

Then the smiling faces turned to frowning ones. Amy took a step back.

"No, that's not going to work on me, so come on." The Doctor waved his hand at them. "Big old beast below decks, and everyone who protests gets shoved down its throat. That how it works?" The frowning faces turned to angry frowning faces. "Oh, stop it. I'm not leaving and I'm not forgetting, and what are you fellows going to do about it? Stick out your tongues, huh?"

Lissa let out a smaller mewl when the booths swung open and they woodenly climbed out.

Just then, Liz Ten jumped in front of them and shot the two Smilers down.

The Doctor beamed. "Look who it is. You look a lot better without your mask." Liz nodded and walked over to Lissa. She grabbed her other arm and forced her to stand up. Lissa paled, but was able to stand by herself. She muttered her thanks. Liz looked over to Amy, who was staring at her with wide eyes.

"You must be Amy," she said. "Liz. Liz Ten."

Amy stared some more. "Hi."

"You know Mandy, yeah?" Amy nodded. "She's very brave."

"How did you find us?" Lissa asked, voice shaky. She was concentrating more on staying standing than anything else, but she still wanted to know.

"Stuck my gizmo on you," Liz answered, waving a remote at her. "Been listening in. Nice moves on the hurl escape. So, what's the big fella doing here?"

The Doctor shook his head. He stepped over to Lissa and placed a hand on her shoulder. A silent way of checking on her. She gave him a feeble smile. "You're over sixteen, you've voted. Whatever this is, you've chosen to forget about it."

Liz shook her head. "No. Never forgot, never voted, not technically a British subject." Lissa opened her mouth the put her theory into words, but the Doctor cut her off. Lissa noticed that that seemed to be happening a lot.

"Then who and what are you, and how do you know me?" He demanded. Liz's gaze turned fond.

"You're a bit hard to miss, love. Mysterious stranger, M O consistent with higher alien intelligence, hair of an idiot. I've been brought up on the stories. My whole family was."

"Your family?"

"The royal family, yeah?" Lissa spoke up and all head shot to look at her. She raised her eyebrows as Liz scrunched hers.

The Smilers creaked and Lissa jumped. Her knees gave out when she landed, and she landed hard on them. The Doctor was quick to pick her up and push her hair back.

"They're repairing. Doesn't take them long. Let's move." Liz commanded, just like a queen.

They moved quickly and ended up in some sort of basement.

"The Doctor. Old drinking buddy of Henry Twelve." Liz recited as if it were an old bedtime story. Which, you know, it might have been. "Tea and scones with Liz Two. Vicky was a bit on the fence about you, weren't she? Knighted and exiled you on the same day. And so much for the Virgin Queen, you bad, bad boy."

Lissa's mouth dropped open.

"What?!" She asked. "What- you- _Queen Elizabeth the First_\- Oh my-"

"Oh, shut it!" Amy snapped. Lissa recoiled slightly and listened, biting back her astonishment.

"Elizabeth the Tenth," Liz went on, fully introducing herself. Her eyes widened and she held up her gun. "And down!" They all ducked and she shot at the Smilers once more. "I'm the bloody Queen, mate. Basically, I rule."

Lissa wondered if the pun was intended.

* * *

Lissa had her hands covering her mouth as they watched the video of Liz Ten telling her future self why she chose what she did, why she continued to do so every ten years. Lissa felt tears prick her eyes and she looked away, wiping them furiously.

"_If you are watching this. If I am watching this, then I have found my way to the Tower Of London. The creature you are looking at is called a Star Whale._" The video said. "_Once, there were millions of them. They lived in the depths of space and, according to legend, guided the early space travellers through the asteroid belts. This one, as far as we are aware, is the last of its kind._"

When Lissa finished rubbing her eyes, they landed on the Star Whale. The part of it that was continuously stung and electrocuted, torturing the poor creature. Lissa felt her legs take her closer to it, though she couldn't recall actually making the decision to approach it.

"_And what we have done to it breaks my heart. The Earth was burning. Our sun had turned on us and every other nation had fled to the skies. Our children screamed as the skies grew hotter. And then it came, like a miracle. _"

Lissa knelt in front of the little circle, tearing flowing as she sat cross-legged.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered. "How could they do this to you?" The whale seemed to moan in response and a fresh wave of tears fell.

"_The last of the Star Whales. We trapped it, we built our ship around it, and we rode on its back to safety. _"

"You poor, poor thing," she murmured. "So alone, everyone around you hurting you. I know what that's like." She gave a humorless, watery chuckle. "Of course, your situation is much, much worse."

"_If you wish our voyage to continue, then you must press the Forget button. Be again the heart of this nation, untainted. If not, press the other button. Your reign will end, the Star Whale will be released, and our ship will disintegrate._" Lissa turned and glared at the video version of Liz. The moaning grew louder with each zap from the torture machine and Lissa wondered how no one on board could hear it, in all it's heartbreaking glory.

What selfish, selfish people. If this was what the human race became, Lissa didn't want anything to do with it. She wanted no part in something so horrible, so inhumane.

"_I hope I keep the strength to make the right decision._"

"Keep the strength to continue to be monsters?" Lissa whispered to herself, but by the way everyone- especially Liz- tensed, they had heard her.

"I voted for this," Amy muttered. "Why would I do that?"

Hatred like Lissa had never known flowed through her, directed at all of the people on Starship UK and at her sister. She had never hated her sister before, but now it was- it was what was right. There was no way to _not _hate someone who would vote for this. Someone who could approve of this.

"Because you knew if we stayed here, I'd be faced with an impossible choice," the Doctor said, anger and betrayal lacing his voice like poison. "Humanity or the alien. You took it upon yourself to save me from that. And that was wrong. You don't ever decide what I need to know."

Lissa wasn't looking at her, but she knew that Amy looked heartbroken. Lissa couldn't tear her eyes away from the circle of Star Whale flesh, being burned over and over again.

"I don't even remember doing it!" Amy protested, voice cracking.

"You did it. That's what counts." The Doctor snapped. He let her "I'm sorry"s bounce off of him. "I don't care. When I'm done here, you're going home."

"Why? Because I made a mistake?" Amy demanded desperately. "One mistake? I don't even remember doing it. Doctor!" Lissa's head snapped up and she saw the Doctor approach the console-like thing and began fiddling with it. Hope swelled through her. He was going to fix it. He was going to save the Star Whale.

"What are you doing?" Liz asked urgently as she sprung from her stool.

The Doctor hesitated, looking down at his hands. "The worst thing I'll ever do. I'm going to pass a massive electrical charge through the Star Whale's brain. Should knock out all its higher functions, leave it a vegetable. The ship will still fly, but the whale won't feel it."

Lissa was on her feet halfway through his little speech. "No! No, you can't! That'll be like killing it." She grabbed his arm and he yanked it from her.

"Look, three options." He used his fingers to count them off. "One, I let the Star Whale continue in unendurable agony for hundreds more years. Two, I kill everyone on this ship. Three, I murder a beautiful, innocent creature as painlessly as I can. And then I find a new name, because I won't be the Doctor any more."

"No," Lissa said thickly. "I won't let you." The Doctor glared at her. It was so terrifying, she almost faltered. But her heart was hard and full of ice and there was _no fucking way_ her Raggedy Doctor was not saving the day. She would force him to do it, force him to save the Star Whale, even if it killed her.

The look on his face said it might just kill her.

"Nobody talk to me." He said. "Nobody human has anything to say to me today!"

Lissa lunged forward, pushing him away from the machine. She wouldn't let this happen. No, no, no. She was going to find a way to save this whale, to be the hero she had so desperately craved her entire life, and she wasn't going to let anyone stop her.

She ran at Liz and grabbed her by the hand, dragging her to the buttons, still lit up as they awaited her decision. Ignoring all of the screaming, Lissa used Liz's hand to press the "abdicate" button.

The Star Whale roared, but pain no longer laced its cry. Starship UK shook violently, then stopped abruptly.

"Lissa, what have you done?" The Doctor demanded, rushing over to her. She released Liz's hand and wouldn't look at him. "Who are you to make a decision like that?!"

Lissa looked up at him with such pain in her eyes that he shut up.

"Everyone, shut up!" Amy cried. She whistled and quickly gained everyone's attention. "Lissa didn't do anything. Can't you tell?"

One of the workers looked at his screen. "We've increased speed," he said disbelievingly.

"Yeah, well, you've stopped torturing the pilot!" Amy exclaimed. "That's got to help."

"It's still here," Liz murmured. "I don't understand."

Amy went over to Lissa and rubbed her shoulders comfortingly. "The Star Whale didn't come like a miracle all those years ago. It volunteered. You didn't have to trap it or torture it!" She said clearly. "That was all just you. It came because it couldn't stand to watch your children cry." She was looking at the Doctor, fondness and wonder etched into her face. "What if you were really old, and really kind and alone? Your whole race dead. No future. What couldn't you do then? If you were that old, and that kind, and the very last of your kind, you couldn't just stand there and watch children cry."

The Doctor looked down.

* * *

Lissa was sitting next to the TARDIS, having run out and up right after she gave the Star Whale a light kiss. She had tried with all of her might to pour everything that was boiling inside of her into that kiss, but she wasn't sure she had succeeded.

The Doctor and Amy said "goodbye" to Liz and her crew before making their way to where Lissa sat. The Doctor wouldn't look at her and snapped his fingers. The door opened with a click and Amy hurried inside. Lissa stood and followed, walking to the captain's chair and sitting. She was awaiting the lecture that she knew was to come.

"You didn't know that stopping the torture wouldn't kill everyone on board." It wasn't a question.

"No."

"But you did it anyway."

"Yep."

The Doctor seemed to be struggling not to yell at her, something Lissa knew well, thanks to Amy. "Why?"

Lissa shrugged. She didn't want to get into it. "I just needed to. It was the right thing to do." The Doctor whirled around, looking at her for the first time.

"It was the right thing to potentially kill millions of people?" He asked lowly. Lissa looked down at her hands. "Look at me! It was right to try to kill all those people?"

"They allowed it to happen!" Lissa cried, looking him in the eyes as she stood. "They- they knew about it, about how that poor thing was being tortured for their own benefits and they didn't even care! They just let themselves forget about it and went on living their merry little lives like nothing was wrong!" She huffed, getting worked up. "They all just turned a blind eye and didn't do anything to stop it! They just- they-"

The Doctor pulled her into a hug and let her sob into his chest. She held on tight, tighter than she had held onto anyone in her life. She cried out all of her frustrations, all of her pain, and she almost felt like he understood. Almost.

"It was still wrong," he said as he rested his chin on the top of her head. "It was wrong. Not everyone had voted yet. Not everyone understood what they were voting for."

"I don't care." Her voice was muffled and soft. "I don't care, I don't care! They'd have done the same thing, too."

"I know."

"They would have just let the poor thing suffer, even though they could stop it."

"I know."

"I hate them all."

"Me too."

* * *

"Is that a phone ringing?" Amy asked as the three of them stood around the console. They had just been discussing where to go next, after Amy and Lissa had found some appropriate clothing in the TARDIS wardrobe.

"People phone you?" Lissa asked, sniffling a little. Her body hadn't quite recovered from her sobfest from earlier.

"Well, it's a phone box." He waved at the phone. "Would you mind?"

Lissa hesitated and grabbed the phone. "Hello?" Her eyes widened. "Sorry, who? No, seriously, who is this?" She placed her hand over the receiver. "Says he's the Prime Minister! First the Queen, now the Prime Minister. Do you know all the rulers of the universe?"

"Which Prime Minister?" The Doctor asked, amused. Lissa hurried to ask.

"The British one."

"Which British one?"

"Er, which British one?" Lissa asked, cringing at how awkward that sounded. "What, really?" She held the phone towards the Doctor, mouth dropped open. "Winston Churchill for you."

Amy made a small gasp as the Doctor smiled and took the phone.

"What's up?" He asked into the phone. Lissa shook her head and shared a look with her sister.

Only the Doctor would greet Winston Churchill with "what's up".

* * *

Lissa stood in the TARDIS just a bit longer after the Doctor and Amy had run out to greet Churchill. She pulled a folded piece of paper from her pocket and unfolded it swiftly, breaking the purple wax seal that kept it shut. The paper was think and heavy and the on it was smooth and curvy. There was only one line written on the paper.

"_In bed above, we're deep asleep, while greater love lies further deep. This dream must end, this world must know, we all depend on the beast below._"

Under that was a scribble, but a scribble that sent a shiver of fright down her back. It made the very same shape as the crack in her wall.

* * *

**A/N: **Ah, I wanted to post this right after I wrote it, but I couldn't because that would have been two chapters in a matter of three hours, and that just won't do.

This episode was really great to me and I would love to hear your thoughts about how it shows Lissa's character and such. Also, as always, I'd love to know whether or not you liked it.

I'm going to skip Victory of the Daleks, since I don't like that episode very much and it isn't companion-centric or plot-centric anyway. Just imagine it happened just like it did in the show, but Lissa was there, as well, helping out whenever she could.

Until next time, sweeties!


	5. Chapter 5

Lissa was getting sick of her necklace, which kept bouncing up and down as she ran to keep up with the Doctor as he pointed out various things in the futuristic museum they had broken into.

"Wrong. Wrong. Bit right, mostly wrong." The Doctor made a delighted noise. "I love museums."

Lissa was actually very interested in the museum. All this stuff was history to them, but the future to her. She eyed lots of beautiful paintings and sculptures and wanted nothing more than to lightly touch them, but she knew she couldn't. Anything could set off alarms and alert the guards to their presence.

"Yeah, great. Can we go to a planet now?" Amy begged. "Big space ship? Churchill's bunker? You promised us a planet next."

The Doctor shook his head, leaning over a glass box, mesmerized. "Amy, this isn't any old asteroid. It's the Delirium Archive, the final resting place of the headless monks. The biggest museum ever."

"Wow," Lissa breathed, darting over to a thick, old-looking book. It was open to a page of spaceship blueprints, all lightly sketched with pencil. The little plaque said that the book was the diary of Karen Mull, the first person to successfully build a time machine. There was a little asterisk that indicated that they were only speaking about humans, not other lifeforms that had already done it.

"You've got a time machine," Amy pointed out. "What do you need museums for?"

"Wrong. Very wrong." The Doctor kept pointing things out as he continued to move. Lissa reluctantly left the book to follow. "Oooh, one of mine. Also one of mine."

Lissa let out a laugh. "So, this is how you keep score?"

The Doctor didn't seem to hear her; he was very taken by a strange box inside one of the many cases. Amy looked bored and leaned on a nearby exhibit.

"Oh great, an old box." She faked a yawn. The Doctor buzzed his sonic screwdriver and opened the lid. Lissa waited for alarms to sound, but nothing happened.

"It's from one of the old star liners." He said, pulling it out gently. "A Home Box."

"What's a Home Box?" Lissa asked, moving in closer to look at the strange writing on it. The TARDIS hadn't yet translated it for her, so she couldn't read it. In the back of her mind, she wondered exactly how long it took for the TARDIS to translate things for people. Sometimes it seemed instantaneous, but other times it took a while.

"Like a black box on a plane, except it homes." Homes? Lissa didn't quite understand. "Anything happens to the ship, the Home Box flies home with all the flight data."

"Okay, so what's so interesting about this one?" Lissa asked. "Is the flight data weird or something?" The Doctor shook his head.

"The writing, the graffiti." He showed her the untranslated words. "Old High Gallifreyan. The lost language of the Time Lords." Lissa and Amy's eyes widened. "There were days, there were many days, these words could burn stars and raise up empires, and topple gods."

"What does it say?" Amy asked excitedly. The Doctor examined it more closely and frowned.

"'Hello, sweetie.'" He read.

Just then, the alarms finally went off as two guards slammed the doors open. They began yelling at the three time travelers, who promptly began to run back to the TARDIS. Lissa noticed that the Doctor brought the Home Box with him.

They swung into the TARDIS, Lissa shutting the door right behind her. The Doctor quickly got them out of there and began fiddling with the box. He attached a couple wires to it.

"What are you doing to it?" Lissa asked, walking over to the console. She slipped a little on the glass floor and Amy snorted. Face a little red, Lissa leaned on a railing.

"Scanning it to find its information." The Doctor said. Lissa was relieved to find that he hadn't noticed her almost-tumble.

"Why?" Amy asked, a smile still on her face.

"Because someone on a spaceship twelve thousand years ago is trying to attract my attention," he responded. "Let's see if we can get the security playback working." All at once, they turned their attention to the screen. A video appeared, showing a pretty blonde woman winking.

"_The party's over, Doctor Song_," an off-screen voice said. There was an unmistakable click and Lissa knew the speaker was holding a gun on the woman. "_Yet still you're on board._"

Doctor Song smiled pleasantly. "_Sorry, Alistair, but__ I needed to see what was in your vault._" She told him. "_Do you all know what's down there? Any of you? Because I'll tell you something. This ship won't reach its destination._"

"_Wait till she runs_," Alistair whispered. "_Don't make it look like an execution_."

Doctor Song wasn't phased. "_Triple seven five slash three four nine by ten_." She recited precisely. "_Zero twelve slash acorn. __Oh, and I could do with an air corridor_."

The Doctor began typing on his old-fashioned typewriter.

"What does that mean?" Lissa asked at the same time Amy said, "What was that? What did she say?"

"Coordinates," the Doctor said, answering both of them at once.

* * *

Lissa kept eyeing the mysterious woman, Doctor Song. River, she reminded herself. She was buzzing around the TARDIS console, flying it more smoothly than Lissa had ever seen. There was something about the woman that Lissa just didn't like, though she couldn't place it. A small voice in the back of her head said, _maybe it's because she's flirting with him_, but she pushed that thought aside. There was no way that was the reason.

She was comforted by the fact that the Doctor didn't seem happy to have River aboard, either. He sat sulkily in the captain's chair, not even flirting back.

"Okay," River said finally as she stepped back from the console. "I've mapped the probability vectors, done a fold-back on the temporal isometry, charted the ship to its destination, and parked us right along side." The Doctor shot up out of his seat.

"Parked us?" He repeated. "We haven't landed."

River rolled her eyes fondly at him and Lissa squirmed uncomfortably.

"Of course we've landed. I just landed her." River replied lightly.

"But, it didn't make the noise," Lissa piped up. River looked at her, surprised. Like she hadn't even noticed that Lissa was there. And that was when Lissa figured out why she didn't like River all that much. "You know, the- the-" Lissa tried to imitate the TARDIS noise and felt her cheeks go pink. Her ears burned as she heard Amy laugh.

River shook her head. "It's not supposed to make that noise." She told her. "He leave the brakes on."

River looked over at the Doctor as she spoke, as if she knew that he would respond. And she went back to ignoring Lissa. Just like everyone else. Lissa's stomach felt funny and she sat in the captain's chair, feeling totally alone in a room full of people.

"Yeah, well, it's a brilliant noise," the Doctor said. "I love that noise. Come along, Ponds. Let's have a look." River rushed over to the scanner screen.

"No, wait!" She called. "Environment checks." The Doctor looked even more annoyed.

"Oh yes, sorry. Quite right. Environment checks." He opened the TARDIS door and looked outside. Lissa stifled a giggle. "Nice out."

"We're somewhere in the Garn Belt. There's an atmosphere. Early indications suggest that-" River read off of the screen. Lissa had the feeling that River liked to do things by the textbook, while the Doctor just did whatever he liked.

"We're on Alfava Metraxis, the seventh planet of the Dundra System," the Doctor interrupted, leaning against the TARDIS door. "Oxygen rich atmosphere, all toxins in the soft band, eleven hour day and chances of rain later."

River shared a look with Amy. "He thinks he's so hot when he does that." Amy laughed with her and Lissa looked down at her hands for two reasons. One, she was being left out again. And two, he _was_ so hot when he did that.

"How come you can fly the TARDIS?" Amy asked, leaning on the console as she looked up at River. River seemed to preen under the attention.

"Oh, I had lessons from the very best," she said humbly. Before the Doctor could get a big head, she added to him, "It's a shame you were busy that day." Amy laughed again, this time at the Doctor's disgruntled face. "Right then, why did they land here?"

"They didn't land," the Doctor said, seeming happy that he knew something River didn't. He winked at Lissa and she let a small smile across her face. "You should've checked the Home Box. It crashed." River's eyes widened and she ran out the door.

"Explain. Who is that and how did she do that museum thing?" Amy demanded as soon as the door shut. The Doctor shook his head.

"It's a long story and I don't know most of it." He made his way to the console. "Off we go."

"What are you doing?" Amy asked. She looked from the door to him.

"Leaving. She's got where she wants to go, let's go where we want to go." The Doctor dawdled at the console as if he didn't know where he wanted to take them next.

Lissa stood up and came to his other side. "Are you basically running away?" She asked softly. He looked at her with some emotion on his face that she couldn't place.

"Yep." She nodded.

"Okay."

But that wasn't good enough for Amy. "Why?" She demanded.

"Because she's the future," the Doctor answered, upset. "My future." Instinctively, Lissa grabbed his hand and squeezed. She didn't like it when he was upset, and she was happy when she shot her a smile. She smiled back, leaning against his arm slightly. And then they were interrupted, because something seemed to occur to Amy right then.

"Hang on, is that a planet out there?" She asked, pointing to the door. The Doctor raised his eyebrows. To Lissa's disappointment, he slipped his hand away from hers and fiddled with some knobs.

"Yes, of course it's a planet." Amy looked excited. Incredibly excited. Practically bouncing up and down, excited.

"You promised me a planet," she reminded him. "Five minutes?" She looked like a little kid on Christmas. Lissa didn't want to admit it, but she wanted to go out there, too. She wanted to step on an alien planet so badly, but she kind of didn't want to go out on that one. Mostly because of who was already out there.

"Okay, five minutes," he relented. "But that's all, because I'm telling you now, that woman is not dragging me into anything!" Amy didn't hear him, though, because she was already out the door.

Lissa stayed where she was, watching the door as it shut on its own. The Doctor looked at her, nudging her a little.

"Aren't you going to go?" He asked. "Alien planet, out there for you to explore." Lissa gnawed on her bottom lip and stared at her hands.

"I don't- I don't know," she mumbled. It wasn't like anyone out there wanted her there. River barely noticed her, and she only ever seemed to get on Amy's nerves. Maybe she'd be better off in the TARDIS. Or somewhere else.

The Doctor took a step back and stared at her for a moment. Then, he held out his hand. "Come on, let's go. I'll give you the full tour and everything."

Maybe one person wanted her out there.

Or maybe he was just being nice.

* * *

_"Doctor, what do you know of the Weeping Angels?"_

Lissa leafed through an old journal, reading passages about Weeping Angels that made her shiver. They were creepy! Lissa almost couldn't believe that things like them were even real. Then, she remembered the daleks and she changed her mind. She could definitely believe that things like Weeping Angels existed.

"You're letting people call you sir." Lissa heard Amy and the Doctor walk her way. "You never do that. So, whatever a Weeping Angel is, it's really bad, yeah?" The Doctor walked over to where Lissa sat and picked up one of the other journals.

"Now that's interesting," he muttered to himself. He looked at Amy. "You're still here. Which part of wait in the TARDIS 'til I tell you it's safe was so confusing?" Amy frowned.

"Lissa's still out here and you're not scolding her." Lissa resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Real mature, Amy. The Doctor opened and closed his mouth for a moment before replying.

"Yeah, well, I trust Lissa not to run into trouble without me," he said finally. Lissa cursed herself when a warm happiness spread throughout her. The Doctor clapped his hands, fully gaining Lissa's attention. "So, Weeping Angels. What have you learned, Lissa?" A small smile on her lips, Lissa sat up straight.

"Well, Weeping Angels seem to people some of the deadliest, most malevolent creatures in existence. Essentially, you die with a single touch, though the journals aren't too clear about how or why. They can only move when no one sees them, and a picture of an Angel becomes an Angel, whatever that means."

"You hear her?" The Doctor asked a distracted Amy, who clearly had not been paying attention to anything Lissa had said. "Right now, one of them is trapped inside that wreckage and I'm supposed to climb in after it with a screwdriver and a torch, and assuming I survive the radiation long enough and assuming the whole ship doesn't explode in my face, do something incredibly clever which I haven't actually thought of yet. That's my day. That's what I'm up to. Any questions?"

"Do you want help?" Lissa asked, closing the journal she was reading. She left her finger inside to mark her place. The Doctor looked at her, unreadable expression on his face again.

Amy looked between the two of them and frowned. "Is River Song your wife?" She asked abruptly, pulling the attention back to her and River. Lissa bit her tongue as she felt herself want to scream at her sister for never letting her have anything for more than a second. The doll she got for her seventh birthday? She got to lay with it once before Amy took it as her own. Her only copy of _Alice's Adventures in Wonderland_? Taken before Lissa had even gotten to the part where Alice went to Wonderland. The Doctor's attention? Always taken in two seconds flat. "Because she's someone from your future, and the way she talks to you, I've never seen anyone do that. She's kind of like, you know," Amy held out her hand, "heel, boy. She's Mrs. Doctor from the future, isn't she? Is she going to be your wife one day?"

The Doctor didn't say anything, just frowned.

And, just then, River came over. She hurried and lead them over to inside one of the clerics' campers. Lissa trailed behind everyone until the Doctor reached back, past Amy, and grabbed her hand. He gently pulled her forward so she was walking next to him. They all stepped inside the camper, which was cramped and covered in metal. On the far wall was a grainy video of a Weeping Angel, just standing there with its face buried in its hands. The counter on the corner of the video said that it was four minutes long, though you could never guess by the unmoving statue.

River gestured to the video once Amy was inside and the door closed.

"What do you think?" She asked the Doctor. "It's from the security cameras in the Byzantium vault. I ripped it when I was on board. Sorry about the quality. It's four seconds. I've put it on loop."

Something about the video didn't seem right to Lissa.

"Yeah, it's an Angel," the Doctor said, moving closer for a better look. He was still holding Lissa's hand, so she went with him. "Hands covering its face."

"You've encountered the Angels before?" One of the clerics- or maybe the bishop, Lissa wasn't sure- asked. He stayed in the back of the camper, arms crossed.

"Once, on Earth, a long time ago. But those were scavengers, barely surviving." The Doctor mumbled, scanning the video screen with his screwdriver.

"But it's just a statue," Amy pointed out. Lissa felt a twinge of annoyance, as she had already explained this to Amy.

"It's a statue when you see it," she told her, keeping her eyes on the Angel. Something really felt off to her.

"Where did it come from?" The Doctor inquired, looking to River. Lissa could tell that, despite whatever he said, he trusted her. At least, more than anyone else in this camp.

"Oh, pulled from the ruins of Razbahan, end of last century," River answered. "It's been in private hands ever since. Dormant all that time." Lissa used her free hand to hold herself together. Not only did something feel very bad that she couldn't place, but she felt so out of place and alone that she almost thought she would come apart at the seams. It was times like this that the only way she wouldn't fall apart was to hold herself together.

"There's a difference between dormant and patient."

"What's that mean, it's a statue when you see it?" Amy asked, arms crossed. She wasn't looking at Lissa, even though Lissa was the one who had answered her previous question.

"The Weeping Angels can only move if they're unseen," River said gravely. Then, lightly, she added, "So legend has it."

"No, it's not legend, it's a quantum lock." The Doctor corrected. He dropped Lissa's hand and she automatically used it to help hold herself together. Any second now, she was going to rip apart and fall to the ground, a pile of stuffing. "In the sight of any living creature the Angels literally cease to exist. They're just stone. The ultimate defence mechanism."

"What, being a stone?" Amy didn't sound like she believed him.

"Being a stone until you turn your back."

"What's wrong with her?" The cleric/bishop in the back of the camper asked and Lissa could only assume that he was talking about her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Amy wave her hand carelessly.

"She does that sometimes. She's fine."

They began to file out of the camper, but Lissa couldn't move. She couldn't take her eyes off of the video. The Doctor didn't move from her side.

"Lissa-"

"Amy's right, I'm fine," Lissa wheezed, fighting to stand straight. "Go on, go figure out how to handle the Angel. I just need a minute." The Doctor shook his head.

"You're not fine."

"Even if that's true, you have bigger problems. Go." Even though she was undeniably happy that he hadn't left her- even if it was out of kindness rather than actual caring- she just didn't want an audience while she fell apart and had to sew herself back together. Especially if the audience was him. She didn't want him to see her like this.

He finally left and she collapsed to the ground. She couldn't hold her wounds closed anymore and she soon became a pile of stuffing on the floor. She hated when this happened. But, at least no one could see her.

Except the Angel, of course.

* * *

**A/N: **I am so so so sorry it's been so long! Finals and the holidays just killed me, I swear! But, I'm back and I'm going to make sure I have a chapter coming out once a week, at the very least.

I hope you all liked the chapter though. I hope you still like Lissa, or are starting to like her more, and I hope you understand her meltdown and how she thinks. I'd be happy to explain it if you don't, so don't be afraid to ask :)

Please leave a review telling me what you think and I will see you soon!

Until next time, sweeties!


	6. Chapter 6

It took Lissa longer than usual to pull herself back together. She figured it was because of the unsettling feeling she was getting from this place, the whole idea of Weeping Angels. She sat up straight, wiping the tears from her cheeks and her eyes. She sniffed.

That was when she saw something move out of the corner of her eye. Her head snapped to the right. The only thing she saw was the screen with the Angel video on it, but it made her heart stop.

The Angel was looking at her.

Giving a little yelp, Lissa jumped to her feet. She had watched the video loop multiple times and the Angel didn't move during any of it. Lissa's heart pounded as she stared at the Angel's hollow eyes, her hands shaking.

_The image of an Angel becomes an Angel._

That was written in one of the journals Lissa had read. She hadn't understood it at the time, but now she was kind of getting it. The video of the Angel could move and act as if it were an actual Angel. Which meant it could kill her.

Shit.

Lissa pushed her annoying red curls behind her ears and away from her face. Her eyes were wide-she couldn't afford to let the Angel get any closer to her. And, of course, the second she thought that, her eyes started to water. She rubbed one eye while keeping the other open, then switched. She backed up, eyes locked onto the Angel. Blindly, she reached for the door handle. Just as she found it, she heard the unmistakeable sound of the lock engaging.

She was dead, dead, dead. She shook like a leaf, eyes watering again.

Lissa maneuvered so she had her back pressed against the door, but she could still see the Angel. She banged on the door with her fists, fast and hard. Her chest was constricting and she was finding it hard to breathe.

"Lissa?" Amy's muffled voice came from the other side of the metal door.

"Amy!" Lissa practically shrieked. "Amy, you have to get the door, oh my God Amy! The Angel- it's real and it's gonna- it's gonna kill me!"

"What do you mean, the Angel is real?" Amy asked. Lissa could feel her tug on the door. "Did you lock the door?"

"_The image of an Angel becomes an Angel_!" Lissa cried. "It's moved. It locked the door and it's gonna kill me, Amy! I really need to blink and if I do, it's gonna get closer and I can't-"

"I'm gonna go get the Doctor," Amy said. "Just- just don't blink, okay? Whatever you do, don't blink."

Lissa started to cry. She couldn't help it, it was too much, and now the camper seemed to be closing in on her. She wiped her tears away quickly, looking back over to the Angel. Her cry was strangled in her throat when she saw the Angel out of the screen, an arm outstretched in her direction.

"Lissa!" The Doctor slammed into the door, jolting Lissa forward. Her head snapped up; the Angel had taken a step forward. It had both hands reaching for her now. "Lissa, do not take your eyes off that Angel, you hear me?"

"I'm trying! It's harder than it sounds," Lissa said. "Can't you- can't you use your screwdriver to get me out?"

"It's deadlocked, so the sonic's useless," The Doctor said in a controlled voice.

"There's no deadlock on that camper." Lissa heard River say. Goosebumps raised on her arms.

"There is now."

Lissa chewed on her lip, spotting a small rectangular box out of the corner of her eye. The remote. Maybe if she could turn off the screen, the video Angel would go away? Lissa voiced her idea to the Doctor.

"It's your best hope, Lissa," he answered. "Can you get to it without taking your eyes off the Angel?"

No. "Yes."

It was on the other side of the Angel, next to the screen. Under normal circumstances- ha, what even counted as normal anymore?- she would never attempt to get the remote. But she had no choice. The Doctor couldn't save her. Amy couldn't save her. For once in her life, she had to save herself.

She crept alongside the wall, clinging to it as she ducked to dodge one of the Angel's arms. She held her breath, squinting up at the Angel in an attempt to keep from blinking.

"Lissa?" The Doctor called. She jerked at the sound of his voice and almost bumped into the Angel.

"Give me a minute!"

Finally, she was around the Angel. She snagged the remote and pressed the power button. Nothing. She tried again. Still nothing. Lissa pressed against the wall again so she had both the Angel and the screen in view as she kept pressing the button. It wouldn't work.

"Lissa!" Amy banged on the door again. Lissa jumped, but didn't answer. She could almost hear the Doctor scolding her sister.

That was when she noticed it. The little blip that happened each time before the four second video replayed itself. Taking a chance, Lissa waited and pressed the power button right as the blip occurred.

The Angel disappeared as the screen went black. The door slammed open and the Doctor, Amy, and River all stumbled in. The Doctor looked around wildly for a moment before spotting her. She dropped the remote as he pulled her into a tight hug. She hugged him back, burying her face into his neck. Her heart pounded in her chest, and she found that she could feel both of his hearts pounding back.

"Ahem." The two of them pulled apart. Amy hurried forward and hugged Lissa quickly. River smiled tightly at her.

"Glad you're okay, Annalise." Lissa bristled, but said nothing. "She is alright now, isn't she?"

"Yeah, she should be," the Doctor replied, scanning her with the sonic. Lissa made a face and batted it away from her. "So long as she didn't look it in the eyes. You didn't, did you, Lissa?"

"I don't think I did," Lissa said unsurely. "I was just sort of staring."

"What does it matter if she looked the thing in the eyes?" Amy asked, arms crossed. The Doctor fished a piece of paper from his pocket. It was slightly crumpled and had obviously belonged in one of the journals.

"'The eyes are not the windows of the soul. They are the doors. Beware what may enter there'. I'm not sure what that means, but it doesn't sound good."

* * *

The Doctor wouldn't let Lissa leave his side. He kept her hand in his and kept her right next to him. To be honest, it was making Lissa a little flustered.

She rubbed her eye, feeling as if something was in there. An eyelash or something. Only, it wouldn't come out. She pulled her hand away and paled. There was a little bit of gravel on her finger. It was in her eye.

_Beware what might enter there._

The two of them were examining the statues as some of the clerics went to search for the Angel. The Doctor was telling her about the people who had lived there once, and how they were all buried around them. They were in a Maze of the Dead.

"It's kind of creepy," Lissa admitted as they stared at another blank statue. The Doctor laughed a little.

"Creepiest headstones ever," he agreed. She smiled.

"Yes, we are!" River called over to them. Or rather, to the Doctor. There was no way she was talking to Lissa.

"You are what?" The Doctor asked, barely glancing at River.

"Talking about you."

"I wasn't listening. I'm busy." The Doctor replied carelessly. "Aren't we busy, Lissa?" She nodded.

"Extremely." Lissa kicked a stone on the ground. Once it seemed that River wasn't paying attention to them anymore, she asked, "So, the Aplans had two heads? What was that like?"

"Two heads are better than one," the Doctor said. "It wasn't as strange as it seems."

"But, like, did both heads talk? Or was one the main head and the other just kind of there?" Lissa was brimming with questions. She had always been inquisitive by nature, and the Doctor was the first person who didn't seem to mind her numerous questions.

He seemed pleased.

A few minutes later, he furrowed his eyebrows. "River, that book, the very end, what did it say?" Lissa tilted her head, wondering what he was thinking.

River fished through the journal in her hands. "'What if we had ideas that could think for themselves? What if one day our dreams no longer needed us? When these things occur and are held to be true, the time will be upon us. The time of Angels'."

It left Lissa with chills.

"Are we there yet?" Amy asked as they continued to climb up the catacombs. "It's a hell of a climb."

"The Maze is on six levels, representing the ascent of the soul. Only two levels to go." River's voice held a teasing tone to it. Lissa couldn't help but wonder why River liked Amy so much but wouldn't give her a chance at all.

"Lovely species, the Aplans," the Doctor stated. "We should visit them some time." Lissa tried to imagine what two headed people would actually look like. Especially if the fact that they had two heads wasn't all that weird, like the Doctor said.

Two heads...

"I thought they were all dead?" Amy said.

"So is Virginia Woolf. I'm on her bowling team." The Doctor wagged a finger at Amy. "Very relaxed, sort of cheerful. Well, that's having two heads, of course. You're never short of a snog with an extra head." Lissa shuddered- that was basically incest, wasn't it?

Two heads...

"Doctor, there's something. I don't know what it is." River stated uneasily.

Lissa found herself staring at a statue, mesmerized by the head.

Two heads...

"Yeah, there's something wrong," the Doctor agreed. "Don't know what it is yet, either. Working on it. Of course, then they started having laws against self-marrying. I mean, what was that about? But that's the Church for you. Er, no offence, Bishop."

"Quite a lot taken, if that's all right, Doctor." Lissa thought that Octavian must have really disliked the Doctor. "Lowest point in the wreckage is only about fifty feet up from here. That way."

Two heads...

"The Church had a point, if you think about it. The divorces must have been messy." The Doctor continued. Lissa stopped, forcing the Doctor to stop with her. She stared at the head of the statue, eyes widening slowly.

"Oh," she muttered.

"What's wrong?" Amy asked. One glance at the Doctor said that he finally saw it, too.

"How could we not have noticed?" Lissa asked. "How many times did you say it? We had a whole conversation about it."

"What's wrong?" Octavian asked.

"Nobody move," the Doctor said urgently. His grip on Lissa's hand was tighter than ever. Hers was the same. "Nobody move. Everyone stay exactly where they are. Bishop, I am truly sorry. I've made a mistake and we are all in terrible danger." Lissa's breath hitched in her throat. The Doctor rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb, trying to comfort her.

"What danger?" Octavian asked, still not getting it.

"The Aplans." River spoke that time, her voice cracking a little. "They've got two heads."

Lissa could imagine Octavian rolling his eyes at that statement. "Yes, I get that. So?"

Lissa swallowed hard. "So, why don't the statues?" She whispered.

"Everyone, over there." The Doctor pointed. "Don't ask questions, don't speak." Lissa rubbed her eye again, ignoring the dust that fell out. "Okay, I want all of you to switch off your torches."

"No!" Lissa yelped, looking up at the Doctor. Her eyes were wide with fear. She was doing her best not to shake. (Maybe she just wasn't cut out for a life like this. Why was it that Amy didn't break down at everything, but she did?)

"Lissa, it'll be fine. Just turn it off. Please. Just for a moment." The Doctor's voice was begging, but soothing. Slowly, she nodded.

"Are you sure about this?" Amy asked.

"No."

Lights out.

Lissa switched hers back on right away, same as the Doctor. All of the statues had moved. They were all reaching forward, trying to touch them. To feed off of them.

"Every statue in this Maze, every single one, is a Weeping Angel. They're coming after us." The Doctor announced gravely.

Lissa rubbed her eye again.

"But there was only one Angel on the ship." River insisted, panic seeping into her voice. "Just the one, I swear."

"They were already here," Lissa said. "How did the Aplans die out?"

"Nobody knows," River answered.

"We know now," the Doctor said.

"They don't look like Angels." Octavian's statement was obvious. If the statues had looked like Angels, it wouldn't have taken them so long to figure it out. They just looked like blobs in the vague shape of a person.

"And they're not fast," Amy pointed out. "You said they were fast. They should have had us by now." The Doctor began to walk about the maze of statues, dragging Lissa with him. More than once, Lissa hand to pull her arm close to keep from brushing on a stone arm.

"Look at them. They're dying, losing their form. They must have been down here for centuries, starving." The Doctor stopped right in front of one of the statues. "And their image is their power."

He looked down at Lissa, eyes wide. He had thought of something.

"You see it, don't you, Lissa? All that radiation spilling out the drive burn."

"The crash wasn't an accident, was it?" She whispered. He shook his head and backed up from the Angel in front of them. They rejoined the group.

"The crash was a rescue mission for the Angels. We're in the middle of an army, and it's waking up."

"Bob, Angelo, Christian, come in, please." Octavian spoke frantically into his radio. "Any of you, come in."

"It's Bob, sir." A voice crackled through. "Sorry, sir."

"Bob, are Angelo and Christian with you? All the statues are active."

"I know, sir. They are dead, sir." Bob paused. "The statues killed them, sir." The Doctor snatched the radio out of Octavian's hands.

"Bob, Sacred Bob, it's me. The Doctor. Where are you now?"

"I'm on my way up to you, sir. I'm homing in on your signal."

"How did he live?" Lissa mumbled, more to herself than anyone. "If the Angel killed his friends, how did he get away? We're surrounded."

"Lissa's right," the Doctor said, startling Lissa. She had sort of forgotten that other people could hear her mumbles. "How did you survive?"

"I didn't escape, sir. The Angel killed me, too." Bob said calmly. As if he were talking about the weather. It made Lissa's stomach churn. "Snapped my neck, sir. Wasn't as painless as I expected, but it was pretty quick, so that was something."

"If you're dead, how can I be talking to you?" The Doctor asked.

Lissa grabbed a railing to keep standing. This was too much, too much, too much.

When she was sure she wouldn't fall over, she let go of the railing. Or, she tried to. Her hand wouldn't move. She was stuck. It was stone. Her eyes itched and she blinked dust away. Everyone else ran past her and only the Doctor stopped.

"Come on, Lissa, we have to get out of the wreckage."

"I- I can't. You should just go without me." Lissa rubbed her eyes hard, feeling the dust pour out of her eyes.

_Beware what might enter there._

* * *

**A/N: **Guys, I'm so so sorry. This took forever to come out, and to be honest updates are probably going to be slow for a while. I hope you guys are okay with that.

But you guys are so great, and I appreciate it so so much!

Until next time, sweeties :)


	7. Chapter 7

It was official. Spaceships made Lissa claustrophobic. The tiny corridor, crammed with clerics and time travelers alike, was making Lissa fight to breathe. The only thing helping was the Doctor's hand in hers. Her hand, which still had bite marks from when the Doctor bit her to prove it wasn't made of stone.

She really shouldn't have looked into the Angel's eyes.

And now, the lights were flickering. Each time they went out, the Angels were getting closer. Every minute, they were regaining their image and becoming faster and stronger, too.

"And don't look at their eyes," the Doctor was saying, fiddling with a power grid next to the locked door they were trying to get into. "I've isolated the lighting grid." The lights didn't flicker anymore, to Lissa's great relief.

"Good work, Doctor," Octavian complimented.

"Yes, good, good, good," the Doctor's voice was high and tight. "Good you like it so far." Lissa's head snapped to the right to look at him, her curls probably hitting a cleric or two in the face.

"So far?" She asked, voice trembling. He looked at her with big, sorry eyes.

"Well, there's only one way to open this door. I'll need to route all the powering this section through the door control."

"I have no clue what that means," she muttered.

"Including the lights." Lissa couldn't breathe for real this time. "I'll need to turn out the lights."

"How long for?" Octavian asked.

"Fraction of a second. Maybe longer."

"Doctor, we've lost the torches," Amy reminded him. "We'll be in total darkness."

Lissa started to cry. Not again, she couldn't have the lights go out again. Not with those monsters getting stronger and coming at them faster and faster and-

"Lissa, I'm going to give you a job to do, okay? When the lights go down, the wheel should release. You and Amy need to spin it four turns to the right." The Doctor spoke gently, wiping some of Lissa's tears away.

Lissa nodded. "Ten."

"He said four," Amy corrected harshly. "Just because you're scared doesn't mean you get to be stupid, too."

Lissa's face went red. She didn't know why she said ten; she knew he had said four.

The lights went out and she and Amy began spinning the wheel. It was hard, but they managed to open it enough for them to squeeze through. The Doctor got through last and the door slammed shut. They were in a new corridor and began running.

The wheel on the door behind them started turning slowly. Octavian began ordering the remaining clerics.

"Seal that door!" He shouted. "Doctor, how long have we got?"

"Five minutes, max," the Doctor replied.

"Nine," Lissa muttered, the word just slipping out of her lips. The Doctor looked at her curiously.

"Five."

"Right."

"Why'd you say nine?" He asked, grabbing her shoulder lightly. Lissa chewed on her lip and shrugged.

"I didn't," she lied.

* * *

"Okay, Bob, enough chat. What have you done to Lissa?" The Doctor asked into the communicator. He was sitting next to Lissa on a fallen tree, River and Amy standing in front of them.

"There's something in her eye," Angel Bob responded. "We are."

Lissa scooted away from the Doctor, looking down at her hands. "Doctor, I'm five!" Lissa said, cringing when she heard the number. "Five! Fine! I'm fine."

"She's counting," River stated. A twinge of annoyance hits Lissa. River still wasn't going to talk to her? God. She looked up blankly, like she didn't understand what River was saying. Sometimes, it was better to feign ignorance.

"You're counting down from ten," the Doctor explained, though Lissa was sure he knew she knew what was happening. "You have been for a couple of minutes."

"But counting down to what?" Amy asked, successfully pulling the attention from Lissa yet again. Lissa didn't say anything.

"We shall take her," Angel Bob said from the communicator. "We shall take all of you. We shall have dominion over all time and space." There was a spine-chilling screeching now. Everyone covered their ears except Lissa.

"Dear God, what is that?"

"They're laughing," Lissa said, tilting her head to the side as the Angel-laughs subsided.

"How do you know that?" Amy asked. Lissa shrugged again.

"Four."

* * *

"Lissa, I'm so sorry. I never should have left you there." The Doctor's voice was grave and it shook Lissa. Hard. Her eyes were squeezed shut, having already used the last of her countdown to look at the crack. The crack that looked just like the one in her and Amy's bedroom, and just like the one on the note from Liz Ten. She was all alone, the clerics having disappeared into the crack's light.

"What do I do?" Lissa asked, her voice cracking. She gulped hard, refusing to cry. This time, this time she'd be strong.

"You have to come to us."

"How? I-I can't even see! I'm surprised none of the Angels have gotten to me yet." Lissa said, hands shaking. She almost dropped the communicator twice, but managed to hold on. Her hands were sweaty, making it even harder.

"Lissa-"

There was a strange sound and then- "Annalise Marie Pond, suck it up and do what the Doctor says! I've already lost my parents, I'm not losing my sister, too. Plus, how would I explain it to Aunt Sharon?"

The Doctor took back the communicator. "Thank you, Amy. Lissa, turn on the spot. When you hear something that sounds like my screwdriver, start walking forward."

"And what if I walk right into an Angel?" Lissa asked, turning slowly until the familiar sound erupted from the communicator. She took two hesitant steps forward.

"Just walk, Lissa. There's Time Energy spilling out of that crack and if the Angels don't get you, it will!" Lissa let out a cry and walked a few more steps. She almost tripped over a root, but caught herself. "The Angels can only kill you."

"The clerics, they didn't remember each other." Lissa stated, squeezing her eyes shut even tighter. "That'll happen to me?"

"You'll have never been born, completely erased from existence."

"Oh, that's lovely," Lissa snorted. "You still haven't told me what's stopping the Angels from killing me."

"So long as you walk like you can see, there instincts will take over and they'll freeze. You just have to pretend" The Doctor paused. "You can do that much, Lissa. I know you can."

Just have to pretend. Like when she was a kid, and had to pretend it didn't bother her that no one sat with her at lunch. Like she had to pretend she wasn't hungry when Mary Elizabeth took her sack lunch during recess. Like she had to pretend Mels' sneers and Amy rolling her eyes didn't hurt when all she wanted to do was play with them. Pretending to agree with her psychiatrist when he said the Doctor wasn't real. Pretending she didn't feel the way she did whenever she looked at-

Lissa was good at pretending. That much, she could do.

She just kept walking, head held high. She didn't even hold a hand out in front of her, like her instinct was telling her to do.

"Almost there, Lissa!" The Doctor called. "You can do it!"

About thirty seconds later, she walked right into a wall. She fell back on her butt, holding her nose. She heard a door open and a pair of hands helped her up and into the base.

"A little warning would have been nice!" Lissa said, not really complaining. She rubbed her nose gingerly, careful to keep her eyes shut.

"So, Doctor, what do we do next?" River asked. Lissa jumped a little when she spoke, as it came from right next to her. Lissa hadn't realized River was the one who helped her inside. If she hadn't disliked River as much as she did, she would have thanked her.

The communicator crackled. "The Time Field is coming. It will destroy our reality," the Angel, still using Bob's voice, stated. The Doctor scoffed. He grabbed onto Lissa's arm and pulled her to him, wrapping an arm around her.

"Yeah, and look at you all, running away," he said. "What can I do for you?"

"There is a rupture in time," the Angel explained. "The Angels calculate that if you throw yourself into it, it will close, and they will be saved." Lissa's chest tightened as she let out a small whine. No, no, no, the Doctor couldn't do that. He couldn't! She wouldn't let him.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Could do, could do that. But why?" The Doctor sounded flippant, but Lissa didn't trust it. He really was asking for reasons why he should sacrifice himself.

"Your friends will also be saved."

"Well, there is that." Lissa couldn't believe what she was hearing. He couldn't actually be considering it! She shook her head and grasped his tweed blazer tight, as if her grip was strong enough to keep him there forever.

She wasn't paying attention as the Doctor and River argued. She wasn't paying attention when the Doctor led her hand to a railing, keeping one arm firmly around her waist. It wasn't until she had to hold on for dear life as the anti-gravity was turned off that she really registered that life was going on as she stood there.

Once they climbed out of the base, Lissa carefully opened her eyes. The light was harsh, but welcome. Her eyes watered, but she didn't care; she could see again!

"And you're sure I'm okay?" She asked yet again. The Doctor, bless him, didn't look annoyed by her at all.

"The Angel in your head never existed, so it can't hurt you."

"But, Doctor," Amy said, crossing her arms over her chest. "The clerics didn't remember each other when that happened. So, how can we still remember the Angels?"

"You both are time travelers now," the Doctor answered simply. "It changes the way you see the world."

* * *

Amy wanted to stop by home. Lissa didn't, so she wandered off into the TARDIS hallways, just looking around. She could just imagine how the conversation in the bedroom was going, what with Amy explaining how she was supposed to get married in the morning.

Soon, Lissa wandered into a large room filled with books. Lissa smiled and walked around, fingers brushing on the spines of very old copies of books that wouldn't be published for centuries. She pulled one or two out, but didn't read them.

She had always liked libraries. It was the one place where everyone was by themselves, too.

She was a little disappointed to find there was no pool in the library, but she figured she'd find it at some point. She ended up sitting on a overstuffed chair and cracking open _The Tale of The Gutsy Ninja_, which was written on the planet Orflax in the year 4578, according to the front.

"Once upon a time, there was a small boy who wanted to be a ninja..."

* * *

**A/N: **Sorry again for the long wait between updates! I don't know what to say except, hopefully I'll be back to updating frequently in May when I'm done with school for the summer. Thanks for sticking with me!

And also, sorry that this chapter kind of sucked.. there's just so much going on it's hard to pick what to put in and how to change and.. ugh.

On a different note, a lot of you have commented on how River treats Lissa and I thought it would be fun if we had a sort of contest about it? Like, whoever guess right first gets a prize (like a oneshot or something similar). How about it, guys?

Until next time, sweeties!


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